No tsunami alert for M'sia after volcano eruption in Tonga, said Met Malaysia

A plume rises over Tonga when the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai erupted in this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite operated by Japan Meteorological Agency, on January 15, 2022 and released by National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and obtained by Reuters on January 16, 2022. National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)/Handout via REUTERS

PETALING JAYA: There is no threat of a tsunami hitting Malaysia following the underground volcano eruption in Tonga on Saturday (Jan 15), says the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).

"Based on continuous monitoring, review of the international and local tide gauge, buoy readings and information from the Regional Tsunami Service Providers' website, we found no tsunami threats to Malaysia," said MetMalaysia in a statement on Twitter on Sunday (Jan 16).

MetMalaysia said it will continue monitoring developments on the incident and will issue updates from time-to-time

"Please get the latest earthquake and tsunami information from the Met Malaysia website at www.met.gov.my, the myCuaca app, our official social media accounts and our hotline on 1-300-22-1638."

Tonga is a nation with around 105,000 residents and it is situated 2,383 kilometres northeast of New Zealand.

An underground volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering warnings of 1.2 metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of Tonga as well as several South Pacific Islands.

Footage showing waves crashing into coastal homes had also made the rounds on social media.