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Jan 19 6 tweets 3 min read
Tonga sits at the junction of two major tectonic plates, the Pacific and Indo-Australian.

The Pacific Plate is pushed west and sinks back into the mantle along a 'subduction zone’ as it reaches the Indo-Australian Plate and the smaller Tonga Plate reut.rs/3fEu9SU
An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Jan. 15, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in Japan and causing large waves in several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes
Satellite images from Planet Labs on Jan. 7 showed volcanic gas escaping through the vent. On Jan. 15, about two hours before it erupted, the vent was predominantly underwater.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai lies about 65 km (40 miles) north of Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga
Scientists said the volcano had been puffing away for about a month before rising magma, superheated to around 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 Fahrenheit), met with 20 degree (68 Fahrenheit) seawater on Saturday, causing an instantaneous and massive explosion
The eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound reut.rs/3qInrkQ
The Red Cross said its teams in Tonga confirmed that salt water from the tsunami and volcanic ash were polluting the drinking water of thousands.

New Zealand navy vessels will arrive on the Pacific island nation on Friday carrying critical water supplies reut.rs/3qIcvEc

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More from @Reuters

Jan 20
A 57-year-old Tongan said he swam around 27 hours after getting swept out to sea during Saturday’s devastating tsunami. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano killed at least three people reut.rs/357yRGK 1/5 Image
The volcanic eruption sent waves rolling across the archipelago, damaging villages, resorts and many buildings and knocked out communications for the nation of about 105,000 people 2/5 Image
Lisala Folau, who lived on the small, isolated island of Atata which has a population of about 60 people, was swept out to sea when the waves hit land at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, he said in a radio interview to Tongan media agency Broadcom Broadcasting 3/5 Image
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Jan 19
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Jan 19
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Thousands of people in Hong Kong volunteered to adopt unwanted hamsters after a mass cull order from the government over COVID-19 fears raised alarm that panicky owners would abandon their pets reut.rs/3nGZt7X 1/5
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Jan 18
All the homes on one of Tonga's small outer islands were destroyed in the massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with three people so far confirmed dead, the government said in its first update since the disaster hit reut.rs/329JK9T 1/5
With communications severely hampered by an undersea cable being severed, information on the scale of the devastation after Saturday's eruption, causing waves up to 15 meters high, has so far mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft 2/5
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for Novak Djokovic to compete at next year's #AusOpen despite the tennis superstar facing an automatic three-year ban from entering the country reut.rs/3KeO1dg ImageImage
On the first day of the #AusOpen, the world's best men's tennis player was taking selfies with fans at a Dubai airport arrivals gate instead of warming up for his first scheduled match on center court at Melbourne Park in front of thousands reut.rs/3fxoTAo Image
Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said there would be no exemption from France's new vaccine pass law reut.rs/3IcRWW9 Image
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