Night of fear on island

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 8

Night of fear on island

From

MARY FONUA

It was a night of fear for the 900 Tongans living on remote, volcanic Niuafo’ou as tremors over four hours shook the island, reaching 7 on the Mercalli scale, followed by smaller quakes early yesterday morning. Niuafo’ou’s radio operator contacting Nukualofa yesterday morning said the tremors were accompanied by a rumbling sound The islanders could not tell whether the noise came from the ground or the sea, but it was similar to the sound of the 1946 volcanic eruption on the island, according to older inhabitants. A 25m crack opened up during Thursday night's tremors. Close radio contact is being maintained, and because no regional earthquakes were recorded,

Tonga’s Meteorological Office believes it to be a volcanic earthquake. It started at 8.50 p.m. and continued until 1 a.m., reaching 7 Mercalli at midnight It ceased between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. yesterday except for one short tremor, and then further quakes were felt at 8.06 a.m. and 11.31 a.m.

Niuafo’ou is 50 sq km in area and 500 km from Nukualofa. It is famous for its tin can mail.

It has experienced two major volcanic eruptions this century.

In July, 1929, the village of Futu was devastated. In September, 1946, a major eruption caused extensive damage and the whole population was moved to the southern island of ’Eua. Resettlement of Niuafo’ou began again in 1961.