Sources: Fox News
A 7.0 Mw earthquake strikes near the island country of Tonga with a 6.1 Mw aftershock. A tsunami warning is issued and later lifted. 2025-03-30
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's main island of Tongatapu enters a seven-day lockdown that closes non-essential businesses and bans sales of alcohol and mass gatherings, except small funerals, after the country reports its first case of COVID-19 in a person who travelled from Christchurch, New Zealand on a repatriation flight last week. 2021-11-2
The Speaker of the Tongan Parliament, Lord Fakafanua, introduces the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Bill 2021 for debate in the legislative assembly. The Speaker wants a mandatory death sentence for serious drug offenses. Tonga has a moratorium on the death penalty and has not used it in more than four decades. 2021-08-16
Tonga refuses entry to four cruise ships due to health warnings following the pandemic. 2020-02-12
Tongan Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, age 78, dies one day after being taken to a New Zealand hospital from his native country. 2019-09-12
The Polynesian state of Tonga declares a Zika virus epidemic with two confirmed cases and 265 suspected cases. 2016-02-4
Tonga restores contact with the Ha'apai islands after Cyclone Ian passed through during the weekend, killing one person and significantly damaging structures. 2014-01-13
King George Tupou V proposes the use of nuclear energy in Tonga. 2010-06-11