Tongan community leaders are urging the public to remain vigilant after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the island Kingdom early Monday morning.

While tsunami alerts were lifted later in the day, experts warned that the Pacific nation is not out of danger yet.

Pakilau Manase-Lua, A New Zealand-based Tongan community leader and the Honorable Frederica Tuita, a member of the Tongan royal family, stress the importance of alertness following the earthquake.

Authorities say the quake occurred around 1.20am local time, with its epicentre located approximately 79 kilometres from Pangai in the Haʻapai group.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Tuita says it appears reported seeing no major structural damage as she travelled through town, visiting her family’s home and office.

“I saw a few people driving, making their way to work and I think I saw one or two children at a shop with their family. Everyone's just making their way to work and school if they can,” she says.

Tuita says many people reacted calmly, following the established standard safety protocols. The community has been well-prepared for such events due extensive earthquake and tsunami drills since the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption in January 2022.

“We've been having so many drills, tsunami drills, ever since Hunga Tonga, Hunga Hapai, everyone was ready when the earthquake hit early this morning but we're slowly coming around.”

Tuita described the quake as having a significant “roar”, saying that she woke up just moments before it struck.

Watch Honourable Frederica Tuita’s full interview below.

“There was a roar with the earth shaking and suddenly everything was moving and shaking. We knew this [was] an earthquake so ‘what are we going to do next’?”

Tuita says locals waited for the temors to subside before moving to safer areas, with police directing traffic away from the coastline amid initial reports of possible waves.

Addressing physical and psychological stress

Manase-Lua says the “shock” of the earthquake could trigger flashbacks to the previous volcanic eruption in Tonga.

He expressed relief that the worst seems to be over but highlighted the need for continued preparedness in case of aftershocks.

A magnitude 7 offshore earthquake rattles Tonga early Monday morning. Photo/Facebook

“Although the risk was not that great, it still comes with a tsunami risk like with most earthquakes in the Pacific.

“That’s probably more dangerous than the actual shaking is the tsunami risk and people would still be quite traumatised from the big tsunami that hit parts of Tonga from the volcanic eruption.

“So there's the psychological impact as much as the physical impact if things are broken and shaking.”

The earthquake struck at 1.18am on Monday. Photo/Facebook, NZ Earthquake

On standby to help

Manase-Lua says Tongan diaspora groups in Aotearoa are monitoring the situation for any requests for support from the Tongan government.

Although there is currently no immediate need for aid, he says they have relief strategies prepared.

“We've been rallying our Aotearoa response group this morning and being prepared in the event that there's a need for support from here.

“I've looked through my social media feeds and family and friends look like they're okay and they haven't got any messages whereby it appears they might need any aid or relief at this point.

“It’s still early days, there's still aftershocks happening and some of these might trigger something. So we're just waiting and preparing for the worst.”

Listen to Pakilau Manase-Lua’s full interview below.

The dangers of misinformation

Tuita warns against hastily sharing information from unverified sources.

She says that some posts circulated early in the morning claimed the tsunami warning had been lifted, yet official government channels had not confirmed this.

“I started messaging my relatives and my friends and they said people were trying to go back to their homes, but the police were turning them away, telling them to go back to the evacuation centres.”

Tuita urged to rely on official government announcements for accurate information and to refrain from quickly sharing news from unofficial sources.

“It's doing a lot of harm, putting people out in a vulnerable position when they're being misinformed by a lot of our community overseas, sharing news that isn't local and isn't official.