This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the main port facilities following a massive underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, Tuesday, January 18, 2022. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)
Highlight
- Significant structural damage reported in Tonga after volcanic eruption
- Officials say there has been no contact with the Hapai Islands since the eruption
- The eruption of Hunga Tonga was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions on the Hunga Haapai volcano.
Thick ash on an airport runway was delaying aid delivery to the Pacific island nation of Tonga, where significant damage was being reported after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami.
New Zealand’s military is sending much-needed drinking water and other supplies, but said ash on the runway would delay the flight by at least a day. A huge ash cloud had halted earlier flights since Saturday’s eruption. New Zealand also sent a navy ship to Tonga on Tuesday and another planned to leave later in the day and pledged an initial 1 million New Zealand dollars ($680,000) for recovery efforts.
Australia sent a naval ship from Sydney to Brisbane to prepare for support missions if needed.
Read also: United Nations ready to help Tonga after volcanic eruption, tsunami
Communications with Tonga have been extremely limited, but New Zealand and Australia sent military surveillance flights to assess damage on Monday, with aerial photographs showing the vibrant Tongan landscape transformed from ashes to a brown moon.
UN humanitarian officials and Tonga’s government “reported damage to critical infrastructure around Tongtapu,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the main port facilities in Nuku’alofa, Tonga on December 29, 2021. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)
“There has been no contact with islands in the Haapai group, and we are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands – Mango and Fonoi – which confirmed substantial property damage after surveillance flights,” Dujarric said. Dujarric said.
New Zealand’s High Commission in Tonga also reported “significant damage” along the west coast of the main island of Tongatapu, including resorts and waterfront areas. The commission said Tonga police had confirmed the death of two people, including a British national, from the tsunami.
Satellite images captured the spectacular explosion, with plumes of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom over the South Pacific. Tsunami waves of approximately 80 centimeters (2.7 ft) crashed into Tonga’s shoreline, and crossed the Pacific, causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California. The explosion set off a sonic boom that could be heard as far away as Alaska.
Two people drowned in Peru, which also reported an oil spill after waves hit a ship transferring oil to a refinery.
The family said 50-year-old British woman Angela Glover died after being hit by a wave in Tonga.
Nick Allini said her sister’s body had been found and that her husband had survived. “I understand that this terrible accident happened when they tried to save their dogs,” Ellini told Sky News. She said that living in the South Pacific was her sister’s life dream and “she loved her life there.”
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano, about 64 kilometers (40 mi) north of Nuku’alofa, was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions. In late 2014 and early 2015, eruptions created a small new island and disrupted air travel to the Pacific Islands.
The island was observed by Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC in late December after a new vent started. Satellite images show how large the region was when the volcano formed a rising island off Tonga.
Dujarric said the UN World Food Program was exploring how to bring in relief supplies and more staff and had received a request to restore communication lines in Tonga.
A complicating factor is that Tonga has managed to survive the outbreak of COVID-19. New Zealand said its military personnel had been vaccinated and were prepared to follow Tonga’s protocol.
New Zealand’s military said it expected the airspace in Tonga to be opened on Wednesday or Thursday. The military said it had considered an airdrop but that was “not a priority of the Tongan authorities.”
Communication with the island nation is limited as the single underwater fiber-optic cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world was likely to burst. The company owning the cable and repairs can take weeks.
Samiuela Fonua, who chairs the board at Tonga Cable Limited, said the cable appeared to have broken about 10 to 15 minutes after the explosion. He said the cable is up and within the coral reef, which could be intensifying.
Fonua said a ship would need to pull the cable to assess the damage and then the crew would need to fix it. He said it could take a week to repair a single break, while many breaks could take up to three weeks. He said it was not yet clear when it would be safe for a ship to venture near an underwater volcano to do the work.
Fonua said a second undersea cable connecting the islands within Tonga had also been broken. However, a local phone network was in operation, allowing Tongans to call each other. But he said clouds of ash are making satellite phone calls abroad difficult as well.
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