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Tsunami waves caused by a giant underwater volcanic eruption have hit the Pacific country of Tonga. Social media footage showed water washing through a church and several homes, and witnesses said ash was falling over the capital, Nuku'alofa. A tsunami warning sent residents scrambling to higher ground. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano sent shockwaves across the South Pacific. Tonga's capital lies just 65km north of the volcano. One Tongan resident, Mere Taufa, said the eruption hit as her family was preparing for dinner, and her younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby. "My first instinct was to take cover under the table, I grabbed my little sister, and screamed at my parents and others in the house to do the same," New Zealand news site Stuff.co.nz quoted her as saying. Ms Taufa said the next thing she knew, water was rushing into their home. "You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground," she added. The plumes of gas, smoke and ash pouring from the volcano reached 20km into the sky, Tonga Geological Services said. The eight-minute eruption was so violent it could be heard as "loud thunder sounds" in Fiji, more than 800km (500 miles) away, according to officials in the capital Suva. The Fijian Government has issued a tsunami advisory and opened evacuation centres for people in low-lying coastal areas. In New Zealand, which is more than 2,300km away, officials have warned of storm surges. The National Emergency Management Agency said coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island could see "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore". Local forecaster Weather Watch tweeted: "The energy release is simply astonishing", adding: "Reports of people hearing the sonic booms across New Zealand." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60007119

Police in New Zealand have said they do not expect to find any more survivors from a volcanic eruption on White Island that killed at least five people and injured up to 20. “No signs of life have been seen at any point,” police said after rescue helicopters and other aircraft had carried out a number of aerial reconnaissance flights over the island following the eruption on Monday afternoon. “Police believe that anyone who could have been taken from the island alive was rescued at the time of the evacuation.” Up to two dozen people remain unaccounted for, and officers are “urgently” working to confirm the exact number of those who have died, a police statement said. Unstable conditions, toxic gases and ash fall prevented rescue teams from searching the island – which lies 30 miles from the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, in the Bay of Plenty – on foot. The country’s most active cone volcano erupted at 2.11pm on Monday, sending up a huge plume of ash that was visible from the North Island. Police said about 50 people were on the island at the time, more than 20 of whom were Australian tourists. Twenty-three people have been rescued. All of those rescued had sustained injuries, mostly burns, police said, and seven people who were in a critical condition had been flown to hospitals in Tauranga and Auckland. Michael Schade, an American tourist, had just returned from the crater to a tour boat with his parents when the volcano erupted. When their boat returned to pick up survivors, some were in shock, and others burned “to different levels of severity”, he said. “We were all busy the entire time, just trying to stay out of the way of people who knew what they were doing and also just to help out wherever we could,” he said of the return trip. Passengers handed over jackets and shirts, eye drops and water, and a human chain was formed to refill bottles so the injured could pour it on their burns. “It was not a particularly big eruption,” he said. “It was almost like a throat-clearing eruption. “It showed increased activity for the last few weeks, so we raised the alert level.” A level four alert was issued for the volcano, also known by its Māori name Whakaari, indicating that a “moderate volcanic eruption” was possible, according to the science agency GeoNet. The scale runs from zero to five – a major eruption. St John Ambulance treated at least 20 people who were injured, with ambulance officers travelling to the island with the coast guard and seven helicopters, which had been dispatched with paramedics on board. A spokeswoman initially said the service’s medical director would establish a triage unit on the island when he arrived, but this later proved to be impossible.

http://www.suite101.com/content/volcano-er...n-japan-a358386 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asi...-southern-Japan http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1031301534.html This time in Southern Japan, on Kyushu Island. No word yet on whether this is related to the tectonic plates shifting during the Sendai quake, though this is unlikely since it's a different set of tectonic plates involved. Although the volcano erupted earlier on this year, it seemed to have settled down a few weeks ago, only to erupt again shortly after the quake/tsunami. This is just crazy. I wonder how many millions are going to be displaced from their homes collectively by the latest string of disasters. Seriously, quake, tsunami, potential nuclear fuel meltdown (though this is overhyped by the media), and now a volcano eruption... just how thin are their disaster relief teams going to be spread...

Beautifully shot and time lapsed. Amazing work. It screwed world economy, gave flight delays but if there are planes flying, would have paid money to be there. http://vimeo.com/11673745 Fv<king awesomegeddon!

[extract] It is actually surprising that a volcano that most of us haven't heard of or know how its pronounced have affected millions of people indirectly. The Eyjafjallajokull volcano located in Iceland which had erupted on or around the 17th of April 2010 spewing volcanic ash and the winds taking it all over Europe. As a result of the unpronounceable volcano deciding to erupt, many flights were canceled as well as causing many airports in Europe to close as volcanic ash is destructive and corrosive to aluminium and other metal used in aircraft, making airlines lose up to

Anyone heard of this brand Volcano? Any feedback on these component speakers and subwoofers? they also produce amps.

Keep seeing this brand and others like Autobahn being advertised in HotStuff...seems more like budget brands... Any one who has used these brands and would like to comment on how good they are for setting up a budget sound system? I'm not into SPL or sound quality that sort of thing...just like to have some bass that's all. Cheers