A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has struck Tonga just two weeks after the country was rocked by a huge volcanic eruption.

The United States Geological Survey recorded the tremor at a depth of 14.5km around 136 miles west-northwest of the village of Pangai, in Tonga's Ha'apai islands.

The country is still recovering from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption on January 15, which was more powerful than the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima, Japan.

The underwater blast sparked a tsunami, leaving at least three people dead and homes across the country damaged.

British charity worker Angela Glover, 50, from Brighton, was one of the trio who lost their lives in the disaster.

Satellite images showed a three-mile-wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising about 12 miles into the air after the eruption.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake (the blue dot) has struck west-northwest on Pangai, Tonga (
Image:
xxxxxxxxxxx)

It could be heard thousands of kilometres away and sparked warnings in New Zealand, Fiji, American Samoa and Australia.

Waves reaching up to 15 metres hit the outer Ha'apia island group, destroying all of the houses on the island of Mango, as well as the west coast of Tonga's main island, Tongatapu, the prime minister's office said.

In Kanokupolu village on the island of Tongatapu, locals were pictured staring at trees that have been felled, buildings in ruins and everything coated in black ash.

The tremor comes after Tonga was rocked by a volcano eruption on January 15 (
Image:
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATIO)

Alexander Matheou, of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in addition to the ash, there was “large-scale coastal damage as a result of the tsunami wave”.

Mrs Glover was killed in the tsunami while trying to save her dogs from the deadly giant wave, her heartbroken family said.

The "irreplaceable" charity worker's body was found by her husband James in some bushes, her brother Nick Eleini said.

The couple moved to the Pacific Island after they got married in 2015 and had become "well-loved" locals, he said.

British charity worker Angela Glover died in the tsunami two weeks ago

Jese Tuisinu, a television reporter at Fiji One, posted a video on Twitter showing large waves washing ashore, with people trying to flee from the oncoming waves in their cars.

"It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption," he said.

James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said the force of the eruption was estimated to be equivalent to five to 10 megatons of TNT, an explosive force more than 500 times the nuclear bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War Two.

The eruption damaged buildings across Tonga and left three people dead (
Image:
Consulate Of The Kingdom Of Tong/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock)

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Michael Poland, from the U.S Geological Survey, said: "This might be the loudest eruption since [the eruption of the Indonesian volcano] Krakatau in 1883."

Teams from The Red Cross said drinking water had been polluted by salt water from the tsunami and volcanic ash.

Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai has erupted regularly over the past few decades but the impact of the latest blast was felt as far away as Japan and the United States.

The eruption was also detected by volunteer meteorologists in Hastings, East Sussex.

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