After a morning of rushed evacuations, the tsunami that reached Hawaii midday Saturday was smaller than officials had feared, causing no reported damage and never rising more than about three feet above sea levels, authorities said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its warning for Hawaii about two hours after the series of waves hit Hawaiian shores, and later for most of the rest of the Pacific.
"It’s a big relief," said Jenifer Rhoades, the National Weather Service’s tsunami program coordinator. "It was pretty scary. We’re glad it turned out to be an event where there wasn’t tremendous impacts in terms of loss of life."
The cancellation means residents who evacuated could begin returning to their homes. More than 144,000 people lived in the evacuation zone.
A 7.9 magnitude quake about 209km (130 miles) south-east of Tonga triggered a tsunami in the South Pacific, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
A regional tsunami warning was issued, but withdrawn just over an hour and a half later.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) had said high waves were likely to hit Tonga, Samoa and other islands around the region.
The quake hit at 0618 local time (1818 GMT) at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).
An underwater volcano has erupted close to the Tonga coast, in the South Pacific ocean.
Scientists sailed to inspect the the volcano, which has been shooting smoke, steam and ash into the air near the low-lying twin volcanic islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai.
Local authorities said coastal villages close to the active volcano were not yet at risk, and that no warnings had been issued.
Underwater volcano erupts off Tonga
