Volcano

Pacific online banking activity increases during lockdowns and Tongan tsunami and eruption

ANZ has seen a 30-percent increase in Pacific internet banking customers, which comes after Samoa and Kiribiti's nationwide lockdown, and recent Tonga events.

Banking has been unaffected by recent riots in the Solomon Islands.

ANZ banks in the Pacific are operational, in-line with government requirements with banks in Samoa back open tomorrow.

ANZ Regional Executive for the Pacific, Tessa Price said people can still access money in Tonga from their bank online or via ATM.

Tonga volcano eruption: Air New Zealand postpones repatriation flight due to ash clouds

The flight was scheduled to leave Auckland this Thursday.

Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer captain David Morgan said they were postponing the service indefinitely and contacting affected customers.

He said they were monitoring the situation closely and their hearts went out to people in Tonga who have been affected by the volcanic eruption and tsunami over the weekend.

"Those affected include our Air New Zealand partners who help with airport operations and our sales and cargo offices in Tonga," Morgan said in a statement.

New tsunami warning as waves hit Tonga

A tsunami wave struck Tongatapu after locals were urged to seek higher ground.

It came shortly after locals in Tongatapu reported “deafening” sound of an eruption this afternoon. They also reported stones pouring down in Tongatapu.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

Kaniva News correspondent in Tonga Patimiosi Ngūngūtau shared a photo of sea waves flowing inland.

He described the deafening sound as “weird”.

“It was a rain of small black stones and black ashes”, he said.

He said they have evacuated to Liahona at the central south.

Canary Islands volcano: 'Miracle house' escapes lava

People on social media have dubbed the residence in La Palma a "miracle house".

The volcano started erupting on Sunday. More than 200 homes have been destroyed and about 6,000 people evacuated.

The lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano is still advancing and scientists are not sure how long the eruption will last.

The image by photographer Alfonso Escalero shows the house surrounded by rivers of lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

It is owned by a retired Danish couple, Inge and Ranier Cocq, who have not visited since the pandemic began, according to El Mundo.

Hundreds more evacuated as La Palma lava nears sea

The evacuation of El Paso was ordered after lava started spewing from a new crack in the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

More than 6,000 people have fled from lava that has buried hundreds of homes since the eruption began on Sunday.

Four earthquakes hit the island shortly after the new eruption vent opened.

Local officials said the lava could trigger a chemical reaction that causes explosions and the release of toxic gases when it reaches the sea.

'Explosive' Soufrière eruption sparks mass evacuation

La Soufrière, which has been dormant for decades, first started showing volcanic activity in December which picked up this week.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves urged more than 16,000 residents in "red zones" to evacuate.

The volcano has since spewed dark ash plumes 6 km (3.7 miles) into the air.

Ash fall has been recorded as far from the volcano as Argyle International Airport, St Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) said.

'Volcano tsunami' hits Indonesia after Krakatoa eruption

The country's disaster management agency says hundreds of buildings were damaged by Saturday's tsunami.

It says the possible cause of the tsunami was undersea landslides after the Krakatoa volcano erupted.

The strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra, connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The disaster management agency warned that the death toll after the tsunami, that struck at about 21:30 local time (14:30GMT) on Saturday, is likely to rise further.

Deaths have been reported in the Pandeglang, South Lampung and Serang regions.

Thousands flee as Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts

The stratovolcano southwest of the city of Antigua began erupting on Sunday, with ash and lava spewing from its crater.

It comes five months after almost 200 people were buried by volcanic ash and mud during a violent eruption in June. That eruption generated pyroclastic flows - fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter - which descended down the slopes, engulfing communities such as El Rodeo and San Miguel Los Lotes.

Volcanologists say lava is rising 500m above the volcano's crater.

Eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano slows to virtual halt

The US Geological Survey's Tina Neal said the lone volcanic fissure that was still active last week had dwindled from a fountain of molten rock to a bubbling pond of lava, no longer spilling out of the cone surrounding it.

Levels of sulfur dioxide gas vented from the fissure, located on the lower east flank of Kilauea, had also dropped dramatically, she said.

The subdued activity there coincided with another major collapse in the outer wall of the summit crater last week.

Volcanic lava buries two Hawaii neighbourhoods

     

The Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland subdivisions were engulfed by a flow of molten rock some 3m to 4.6m tall.

It brings to at least 350 the number of homes and other structures consumed by volcanic lava during the past month.

That latest toll of property losses from Kilauea's ongoing upheaval, which entered its 35th day on Wednesday, far surpasses the 215 structures destroyed by lava during all 35 years of the volcano's last eruption cycle, which began in 1983.