The massive explosion by the January 15, 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga triggered a trans-oceanic tsunami generated by coupled ocean and atmospheric shock waves during the explosion. The tsunami reached first the coast of Tonga, and later many coasts around the world. The shock wave went around the globe, causing sea perturbations as far as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean seas. We present the effects of the January 15, 2022 Tonga tsunami on the Mexican Pacific Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Mexican Caribbean coast, and discuss the underrated hazard caused by great volcanic explosions, and the role of early tsunami warning systems, in particular in Mexico. The shock wave took about 7.5 h to reach the coast of Mexico, located about 9000 km away from the volcano, and the signal lasted several hours, about 133 h (5.13 days). The shock wave was the only cause for sea alterations on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, while at the Mexican Pacific coast both shock wave and the triggered tsunami by the volcano eruption and collapse affected this coast. The first tsunami waves recorded on the Mexican Pacific coast arrived around 12:35 on January 15, at the Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán tide gauge station. The maximum tsunami height exceeded 2 m at the Ensenada, Baja California, and Manzanillo, Colima, tide gauge stations. Most tsunami warning advisories, with two exceptions, reached communities via social media (Twitter and Facebook), but did not clearly state that people must stay away from the shore. We suggest that, although no casualties were reported in Mexico, tsunami warning advisories of far-field tsunamis and those triggered non-seismic sources, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions, should be included and improved to reach coastal communities timely, explaining the associated hazards on the coast. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00024-022-03017-9.

A hazard and vulnerability assessment of coastal erosion is an essential first step for planning and decision-making, because it is part of risk management and its results are in the form of easily interpreted traffic-light maps. For the analysis of the assessment in this work, a methodology is proposed which considers three components for both hazard (magnitude, occurrence, and susceptibility) and vulnerability (exposure, fragility, and lack of resilience), through a semi-quantitative approximation, by applying relative indices to different variables. This methodology has been adapted to analyze hazards and vulnerability caused by coastal erosion combining physical and social aspects. For the validation of this methodology, Spratt Bight Beach (Colombian Caribbean) and La Bocana beach (Colombian Pacific) were selected in order to have contrasting regions and to validate the application of the method over a geographical range. One of the most significant outcomes of the assessment of the degree of hazard and vulnerability is that the rating may represent different combinations of factors. It is therefore important to study and interpret the components separately, allowing us to propose corrective and/or prospective focused interventions at local and regional levels. In terms of vulnerability, the assessment highlighted the importance of cultural ecology as a factor of resilience to coastal hazards.

The massive explosion by the January 14, 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga triggered a trans-oceanic tsunami generated by coupled ocean and atmospheric shock waves during the explosion. The tsunami reached first the coast of Tonga, and later many coasts around the world. The shock wave went around the globe, causing sea perturbations as far as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean seas. We present the effects of the January 14, 2022 Tonga tsunami on the Mexican Pacific Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Mexican Caribbean coast, and discuss the underrated hazard caused by great volcanic explosions, and the role of early tsunami warning systems, in particular in Mexico. The shock wave took about 7.5 hours to reach the coast of Mexico, located about 9000 km away from the volcano, and the signal lasted several hours, about 133 hours (5.13 days). The first tsunami waves recorded on the Mexican Pacific coast arrived around 06:26 on January 15, at the Huatulco, Oaxaca tide gauge station. The maximum tsunami height exceeded 2 m at the Ensenada, Baja California, and Manzanillo, Colima, tide gauge stations. Most tsunami warning advisories, with two exceptions, reached communities via social media (Twitter and Facebook), but did not clearly state that people must stay away from the shore. We suggest that, although no casualties were reported in Mexico, tsunami warning advisories of far-field tsunamis and those triggered by volcanic eruptions should be improved and reach coastal communities timely, explaining the associated hazards on the coast.

La línea de costa a lo largo del mundo y de Colombia presenta una tendencia al retroceso, con impactos significativos sobre las comunidades y ecosistemas locales. Para abordar esta problemática se propuso incluirla en la gestión del riesgo de desastres, que parte del conocimiento para tomar medidas correctivas y prospectivas, siendo el análisis de amenaza y vulnerabilidad el insumo principal, y la evaluación de sus componentes relevante para la mitigación. Para este estudio se analizó la dominancia de cada componente de la evaluación de amenaza (Ocurrencia, Magnitud y Susceptibilidad) y vulnerabilidad (Elementos Expuestos, Fragilidad y Falta de Resiliencia) propuesta por Coca-Domínguez y Ricaurte-Villota (2019), usando análisis de componentes principales. Los resultados muestran que el factor determinante de la amenaza por erosión en la región Pacífico y Caribe Insular es la ocurrencia, lo que puede estar condicionado por la tendencia generalizada al retroceso de la línea de costa en estas zonas, mientras que, en la región Caribe continental, es la susceptibilidad, lo que se explica por las características geológicas y geomorfológicas de esta costa. Por su parte, en la región Caribe continental e Insular la vulnerabilidad está determinada por la Falta de Resiliencia, explicada por la pérdida de conocimiento tradicional y ecosistemas, y en la región Pacífico está determinada por la fragilidad, principalmente social, económica e institucional.

En el poblado de La Barra, Buenaventura (Colombia), desde el año 2013 inició un proceso de avulsión hacia el mar del estero Arrastradero, asociado a este evento se pudo medir un acelerado proceso de erosión costera que afectó el poblado en general. Con el fin de comprobar la hipótesis de que la dinámica litoral determina no solo la morfología de la costa sino también la dinámica poblacional, se evaluó la vulnerabilidad por erosión costera de la población, la evolución histórica y reciente de la línea de costa y de la espiga litoral y la evolución en la localización de las viviendas. Se determinó que antes del fenómeno de erosión actual la zona ya había sufrido varios procesos de cambio, que impactaron la dinámica poblacional. Durante el periodo de estudio (2013 a 2015), los meses de mayor cambio en línea de costa fueron entre marzo y mayo de 2014, siendo este el año de mayor retroceso. Adicionalmente, asociado a estos cambios, la vulnerabilidad de la población se incrementó de 2013 a 2014. Finalmente, se puede concluir que un importante valor de adaptación de las comunidades afrodescendientes del Pacífico a los riesgos costeros, es el pensamiento colectivo y sus prácticas ancestrales que marcan su movilidad alrededor de las dinámicas naturales de su entorno, haciéndolas más resilientes, es decir, cultura como estrategia de adaptación al medio (ecología cultural).