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IMPACT AND RESPONSE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA DUE TO THE TSUNAMI GENERATED BY THE SUBMARINE ERUPTION OF HUNGA TONGA-HUNGA HA’APAI VOLCANO

Abstract:

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano erupted on Saturday 15, 2022 leading to a VEI 5 eruption at 17.27 local time, shaking the earth with a M5.8. As result of this explosion a tsunami was triggered. The reasons of the tsunami may have been by a complex magma-water interaction or by repeated submarine mass movements. However, this tsunami impacted most of the Pacific during the following couple of hours, reaching also Central and South America. There, local monitoring organizations handled differently this information provided by the PTWC, and so did authorities and local mass media in the transmission of information and consequences for the public. We report the events as occurred in the countries between Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile and the respective degree of reaction of the public.