Sources: BBC
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, causing tsunami warnings in Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and other countries in the South Pacific, and generating a 60 cm tsunami in Lenakel, Vanuatu. 2023-05-19
Tonga enters a nationwide lockdown after the country reported its first locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. 2022-02-2
Tonga is hit by ashfall and a tsunami after the eruption of Hunga Tonga, destroying homes as locals struggle to find higher ground. Major flooding is reported in the capital Nukuʻalofa. Shock waves from the eruption are detected as far away as Alaska, United States. Other Pacific countries have also advised their citizens to seek higher ground. Internet access has reportedly been disrupted in Tonga. 2022-01-15
Tonga reports its first case of COVID-19 in a person who travelled from Christchurch, New Zealand to Nukuʻalofa and is now in isolation. 2021-10-29
Tonga and Fiji declare a state of emergency as part of an ongoing measles outbreak. Conditions worsen in Samoa where the death toll continues to rise and schools remain closed. There are 1,797 confirmed cases as of Saturday, with 153 detected on Friday alone. 2019-11-23
A passenger bus carrying 46 people, mostly school groups from Tonga, crashes in the Gisborne Region of New Zealand, approximately 30 kilometers south of the city of Gisborne. Two people died while several were injured, with some still hospitalized. 2016-12-24
From the Diocese of Tonga, Catholic Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is welcomed at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Honolulu, Hawaii. Appointed by Pope Francis, Mafi is the first and youngest cardinal from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga. 2016-01-16
An explosion of the Hunga Tonga submerged volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, near Nuku'alofa, Tonga, disrupts air travel and creates a one-kilometer new island. 2015-01-16
The funeral of former King of Tonga George Tupou V is held in Nukuʻalofa with thousands of mourners lining the street. 2012-03-27
Tongans go to the polls in the first general election in the nation's history in which the majority of parliament will be popularly elected. 2010-11-25