Tsunami warning issued in Australia

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre issued the warning at 9:19 pm AEDT on Saturday.

There are land warnings for Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island.

In NSW, a marine warning is in place for all coastal areas. In Queensland, the marine warning is in place for Sandy Cape to Point Danger including Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters, Moreton Bay and Gold Coast Waters.

In Victoria, a marine warning is in place for Lakes Entrance to 60nm east of Gabo Island including East Gippsland Coast. A warning is also in place for Macquarie Island.

In Tasmania, a marine warning applies to the northern tip of Flinders Island to South East Cape including East of Flinders Island, Banks Strait and Franklin Sound, Upper East Coast, Lower East Coast, South East Coast, D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Derwent Estuary, Frederick Henry Bay and Norfolk Bay, Storm Bay from 10pm.

“People in areas with threat of land inundation and flooding are strongly advised by emergency authorities to go to higher ground or at least 1 kilometre inland,” the warning states.

“In areas with a threat to the marine environment only, emergency authorities advise people to get out of the water and move away from the immediate water’s edge of harbours, coastal estuaries, rock platforms and beaches.”

It comes after frightened Tongans fled to higher ground Saturday after a massive volcanic eruption — heard in neighbouring countries — triggered the area’s second tsunami in as many days.

“A 1.2 metre tsunami wave has been observed at Nukualofa,” Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology tweeted.

The maximum tsunami wave recorded following Friday’s explosion was 30 centimetres.

The latest eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano came just a few hours after Friday’s tsunami warning was lifted.

Mere Taufa said she was in her house getting ready for dinner when the volcano erupted.

“It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,” Taufa told the Stuff news website.

She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighbouring house collapse.

“We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home.

“You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.”

Tonga’s King Tupou VI was reported to have been evacuated from the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa and taken by a police convoy to a villa well away from the coastline.

The initial eruption lasted at least eight minutes and sent plumes of gas, ash and smoke several kilometres into the air. Residents in coastal areas were urged to head for higher ground.

The eruption was so intense it was heard as “loud thunder sounds” in Fiji more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) away, officials in Suva said.

There, officials warned residents to cover water collection tanks in case of acidic ash fall.

Victorina Kioa of the Tonga Public Service Commission said Friday that people should “keep away from areas of warning which are low-lying coastal areas, reefs and beaches”.

The head of Tonga Geological Services Taaniela Kula urged people to stay indoors, wear a mask if they were outside and cover rainwater reservoirs and rainwater harvesting systems.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a “tsunami advisory” for American Samoa, saying there was a threat of “sea level fluctuations and strong ocean currents that could be a hazard along beaches”.

Similar warnings were issued by authorities in New Zealand and Fiji.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano sits on an uninhabited island about 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa.

Originally published as Tsunami warning issued for parts of NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania