THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the country’s embassy in New Zealand is checking if any of the 787 Filipinos living and working in Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji were hurt or affected by the eruption of an underwater volcano last Saturday that triggered tsunamis and strong wave alerts across the Pacific.
“The Philippine Embassy in Wellington is closely following developments in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji after the eruption of an underwater volcano yesterday,” the DFA said in a statement.
“Coordination efforts with local authorities and community leaders are ongoing to ascertain the situation on the ground and the condition of the 87 Filipinos in Tonga, 300 in Samoa and 400 in Fiji,” it added.
The DFA said information it received from the embassy reported residents moving to higher grounds and disruption to communication systems as tsunami waves reached Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji.
Tsunami advisories were also issued for the coastal areas of New Zealand, Japan, and the US West Coast.
The underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, 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.
Japan’s meteorological agency issued tsunami warnings in the early hours on Sunday and said waves as high as three meters (9.84 feet) were expected in the Amami islands in the south. Waves of more than a meter were recorded there earlier.
Public broadcaster NHK said no damage or casualties had been reported, interrupting its regular programming to report on the tsunami advisory spanning the entire eastern coast of the Japanese archipelago issued by the country’s meteorological agency.
In a briefing, a Japan Meteorological Agency official urged people not to go near the sea until the tsunami advisory and more serious tsunami warnings had been lifted. The warnings – the first in more than five years – covered several specific areas.
