Tonga: Tsunami sirens bellow after 7.3 magnitude earthquake

Sirens rang out in Tonga, warning locals of the threat of a tsunami after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, 11 November.

At 11:48pm local time, Tonga’s government issued an urgent tsunami warning for the whole island, informing residents to evacuate immediately to high ground until the threat passed.

The urgent warning was downgraded to a marine tsunami warning for the whole island at 2:32am.

“Due to tsunami wave being less than 1 feet, it is expected that this tsunami waves will only affect our coastlines,” the government said.

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