A 5.5 magnitude earthquake has been felt by people in Tongatapu this morning.
Tonga Met Service has confirmed there is currently no threat of a tsunami as a result of the quake.
The news comes after four people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed after a tsunami was generated by the massive January eruption. All resorts on the western side of Tongatapu were completely wiped out.
Meanwhile, small-scale eruptions were expected following the volcanic eruption and tsunami.
Four months on, new scientific evidence was helping to paint a clearer picture of how widespread the damage was and the chances of another eruption, University of Auckland Volcanologist Shane Cronin said.
While there would not be another large-scale event anytime soon, there would be “follow-ups”.
“After such a fundamental change and an enormous eruption, we wouldn’t expect there to be an ongoing big event but we would expect there to be sort of follow ups or small scale eruptions because there’s always a bit of magma left behind and there’s always a little bit of residual heat.”
