Tonga volcano: distress signal detected in low-lying islands after eruption, as first death reported

Regular contact with Tonga may not resume for weeks after confirmation the communications cable was cut in at least one place

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations. 

Photograph: New Zealand High Commission/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock

Tess McClure
@tessairini
Tue 18 Jan 2022 00.13 GMT

A distress signal has been detected in an isolated, low-lying group of Tongan islands after Saturday’s huge volcanic eruption, even as most external communications remain down, and diaspora families anxiously await news.

Reuters reports that the UN detected the distress signal on Monday, prompting particular concern for the inhabitants of Fonoi and Mango. According to the Tonga government, 36 people live on Mango and 69 on Fonoi.

The news comes as most communication between Tonga and the outside world is still cut off, after the Pacific nation’s main communication cable was broken by the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami.


Tonga volcano: a visual guide to the eruption and its aftermath

Tongans around the world may be forced to wait weeks for regular contact to resume, after testing confirmed that the cable connecting the islands to the outside world was cut in at least one place.

A spokesperson for Southern Cross Cable, which operates other undersea cable networks across the region, said that testing by Fintel and Tonga Cable on Sunday afternoon “seems to confirm a likely cable break around 37km offshore from Tonga”.

The offshore nature of the break means it is more difficult and time consuming to repair, with a specialist cable repair ship being dispatched from Papua New Guinea. The spokesperson said reports indicated that “while timing is currently unconfirmed it is likely to be one to two weeks before they have repaired the cable, conditions willing”.

There have been no official confirmations of casualties from Tongan authorities, but the family of Angela Glover, a British woman living in Tonga who went missing in the tsunami, reported on Monday that her body had been found.

Images from Australian and New Zealand defence force surveillance flights that travelled to the islands on Monday have not been released. But UN analysis of satellite imagery from the island of Nomuku found that almost all visible structures were covered with ash, and about 40% of visible structures were damaged.


‘Not knowing is heartbreaking’: sleepless nights among Tongan diaspora after contact with country cut off

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that boulders and boats had washed ashore on Tongatapu, Tonga’s largest island, about 65km south of the volcano.

“Seeing some of those waves come in and peeling back fencelines and structures, you can see the force of those surges,” she said. “Everyone just wants to establish how wide scale that impact has been … we want to be in Tonga and on the ground as soon as we are possibly able to be.”

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a briefing on Monday there was significant infrastructural damage around the main island of Tongatapu. “We are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands – Mango and Fonoi – following New Zealand and Australian surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage,” they said.

Distress beacon from islands near Tonga eruption site detected

A map provided by the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations shows the extent of Saturday's Tonga volcanic eruption. Map courtesy of ECHO


Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A distress signal emanating from a pair of isolated, low-lying islands near Tonga has been detected in the wake of this weekend's undersea volcano eruption, United Nations officials said Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the distress beacon is coming from the Ha'apai Group of islands, situated 45 miles northeast of the main Tongan island of Tongatapu, where concerns were mounting about the welfare of the small islands of Mango and Fonoi.

The two islands lie just a few miles to the northeast of Saturday's eruption site in the South Pacific.

The blast covered the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa in ash and dust and triggered tsunami waves in several Pacific Ocean nations, particularly Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, the United States, Mexico, Peru and Chile.

Communications in the South Pacific remained disrupted Monday, two days after the eruption.

Two people had been reported missing in Tonga. Family members of one of the missing persons, British national Angela Glover, said her body was recovered Monday after she was swept away by the tsunami wave, Sky News reported.

Two others were reported killed in Peru, while two people were injured during evacuations in Japan, local authorities said.

In investigating the distress beacon from the islands of Mango and Fonoi, OCHA said Australia carried out a surveillance flight Monday and reported substantial property damage on the beaches.

The Tongan Maritime Force has also deployed to the Ha'apai Group of islands.

Tonga: First reconnaissance flights surveil aftermath of volcanic eruption

Communication with the Pacific island is still spotty after a massive volcanic eruption spewed ash into the atmosphere. The eruption triggered a tsunami that flooded coastlines from Japan to the United States.

TONGA VOLCANO ERUPTION SENDS TSUNAMI WAVES ACROSS PACIFIC
Volcano erupts off of Tonga
A volcano near the island nation of Tonga erupted on Saturday, sending tsunami waves across the Pacific. The massive eruption has severely hampered international communication with the island.
12345678


New Zealand said Monday it was able to send a surveillance plane to assess the damage caused by the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai underwater volcano.

The volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga on Saturday evening, sending a plume of ash, steam, and gas rising high into the atmosphere. The roar from the eruption was reportedly heard 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.

After a tsunami triggered by the eruption that hit the Pacific island, officials downgraded the threat of further tsunamis on Sunday.

At least one person on Tonga — a British woman — is reported to have died.

A volcano near Tonga erupted in the Pacific on Saturday, triggering a tsunami
What is the latest?

Australia also sent a reconnaissance flight on Monday to assess damage in Tonga.

Australia's Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said initial reports suggested no mass casualties from the eruption. However, Australian police had visited beaches and reported significant damage with "houses thrown around."

"We know there is some significant damage, and know there is significant damage to resorts," Seselja said in a radio interview. He added that Tonga's airport appeared to be in good condition.

Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, said the flights were expected to return on Monday evening.

Tonga is concerned about the risk of COVID-19 reaching the island through aid deliveries, as it is currently COVID-free.

"We don't want to bring in another wave — a tsunami of COVID-19," Tu'ihalangingie told Reuters.

Tu'ihalangingie added that it is likely that foreign personnel would not be allowed to disembark aircraft and any aid delivered would need to be quarantined.

Officials were also worried about the fate of some of the many isolated, low-lying islands nearby, especially after a distress signal was detected on one.

A tsunami flooded parking lot at a harbor in Santa Cruz, California on Saturday
'Significant' damage to Tonga capital

A full assessment was not possible as of Sunday, as the eruption knocked out the internet and disrupted communication with the island. Tonga receives its internet via an undersea cable from Fiji.

The company that owns the fiber-optic cable that connects Tonga to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks, the Associated Press reported.

However, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press briefing on Sunday that Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, suffered "significant" damage.

"The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku'alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore," she said after managing to contact the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.

"Nuku'alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable," the prime minister added.

There were no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga, she said, while cautioning that authorities were yet to contact some coastal areas and smaller islands.

"Communication with Tonga remains very limited. And I know that is causing a huge amount of anxiety for the Tongan community here," the prime minister said.

The thick ash cloud 63,000 feet (19,000 meters) above Tonga had previously prevented military surveillance flights.

'One of the most explosive eruptions in the 21st century'

Experts expressed concern about the sheer size of the eruption and are on the lookout for potentially further volcanic activity.

"It was a remarkable eruption. It was extremely explosive. We're sort of thinking it's one of the most explosive eruptions in the 21st century at the moment," Shane Cronin, professor of volcanology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, told DW.

"These very large ones at this volcano happen about once every 900 years, but they seem to have a series of events, and so this may be the first in a series of eruptions," he added.

In terms of damage, the expert said the main concerns at the moment are about how hard the tsunami hit, as well as the level of ash that has fallen on the island.

"So far, what we've seen has been tsunami damage, and most of what we've seen has been from Tongatapu — the main inhabited island of Tonga where the capital Nuku'alofa is," Cronin said.

"What we're concerned about is some of the low-lying islands, which are actually very close to Hunga-Ha'apai - Nomuka and the islands of the Ha'apai group. These islands have potentially a lot of low-lying areas that were affected by tsunami waves," he added.

"At the moment, the ashfall that has gone on to Tongatapu hasn't been that large yet, but the eruption column actually spread in a way that it probably would have [and possibly still will] put more ash onto the central part of the Tongan island group," the volcanologist said.

"What we're waiting to find out now is that what kinds of impacts there have been, what kind of help people need."

International support

Besides New Zealand, other countries have expressed concern for Tonga and offered help.

An Australian government spokesperson said initial assessments were still underway, but the country was ready to provide support to Tonga if requested.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern, adding that the US "stands prepared to provide support to our Pacific neighbors."

The lack of COVID-19 outbreaks on the island of 105,000, is another element for international aid efforts to take into account.

New Zealand has assured that its military staff was all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by the island nation.
Tsunami threat downgraded

The tsunami threat around the Pacific basin from the powerful underwater volcano eruption off the coast of Tonga began to recede on Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Authorities at "impacted coastal areas should monitor... to determine when it is safe to resume normal activities," the center said.

The seismic force sent powerful waves crashing into coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The US National Weather Service in American Samoa canceled its tsunami advisory on Monday, but officials urged caution when entering the water.

In Peru, two women died in Lambayeque due to "anomalous waves."

ab, sdi, adi/wmr, rs (AFP, AP, Reuters)


The ash cloud from the erupting volcano seen from a US satellite

DW RECOMMENDS

Tonga volcano eruption sends tsunami waves across Pacific

A volcanic eruption in Tonga has sent tsunami waves that have hit coastlines as far as Japan and New Zealand and flooded the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa.

Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption

By NICK PERRY

1 of 16

In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force, an Orion aircraft is prepared at a base in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, before flying to assist the Tonga government after the eruption of an undersea volcano. (NZDF via AP)


WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage a huge undersea volcanic eruption left in the Pacific island nation.

A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand hopes to send essential supplies, including much-needed drinking water, on a military transport plane Tuesday.

A British woman who was missing has been found dead, her family said, in the first reported fatality on Tonga.

The brother of Angela Glover, who ran an animal rescue center, said the 50-year-old died after being swept away by a wave.

Nick Eleini said his sister’s body had been found and that her husband survived.

“I understand that this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs,” Eleini told Sky News.

He said it had been his sister’s life dream” to live in the South Pacific and “she loved her life there.”

Communications with Tonga remained extremely limited. The company that owns the single underwater fiber-optic cable that connects the island nation to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks.

The loss of the cable leaves most Tongans unable to use the internet or make phone calls abroad. Those that have managed to get messages out described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began cleaning up from the tsunami waves and volcanic ash fall.

Tsunami waves of about 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) crashed into Tonga’s shoreline, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described damage to boats and shops on Tonga’s shoreline. The waves crossed the Pacific, drowning two people in Peru and causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California.

Scientists said they didn’t think the eruption would have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate.

Huge volcanic eruptions can sometimes cause temporary global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere. But in the case of the Tonga eruption, initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.01 Celsius (0.02 Fahrenheit) global average cooling, said Alan Robock, a professor at Rutgers University.

Satellite images showed the spectacular undersea eruption Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific waters.

A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent pressure shockwaves around the planet twice, altering atmospheric pressure that may have briefly helped clear out the fog in Seattle, according to the National Weather Service. Large waves were detected as far away as the Caribbean due to pressure changes generated by the eruption.

Samiuela Fonua, who chairs the board at Tonga Cable Ltd. which owns the single cable that connects Tonga to the outside world via Fiji, said the cable appeared to have been severed about 10 to 15 minutes after the eruption. He said the cable lies atop and within coral reef, which can be sharp.

Fonua said a ship would need to pull up the cable to assess the damage and then crews would need to fix it. A single break might take a week to repair, he said, while multiple breaks could take up to three weeks. He added that it was unclear yet when it would be safe for a ship to venture near the undersea volcano to undertake the work.

A second undersea cable that connects the islands within Tonga also appeared to have been severed, Fonua said. However, a local phone network was working, allowing Tongans to call each other. But he said the lingering ash cloud was continuing to make even satellite phone calls abroad difficult.

He said Tonga, home to 105,000 people, had been in discussions with New Zealand about getting a second international fiber-optic cable to ensure a more robust network but the nation’s isolated location made any long-term solution difficult.

The cable also broke three years ago, possibly due to a ship dragging an anchor. At first Tongans had no access to the internet but then some limited access was restored using satellites until the cable was repaired.

Ardern said the capital, Nuku’alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.

Aid agencies said thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.

In a video posted on Facebook, Nightingale Filihia was sheltering at her family’s home from a rain of volcanic ash and tiny pieces of rock that turned the sky pitch black.

“It’s really bad. They told us to stay indoors and cover our doors and windows because it’s dangerous,” she said. “I felt sorry for the people. Everyone just froze when the explosion happened. We rushed home.” Outside the house, people were seen carrying umbrellas for protection.

One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19. Ardern said New Zealand’s military staff were all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by Tonga.

Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin, and the spectacle was both “humbling and scary.”

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.

Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano.

“We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land,” she said.

The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano, about 64 kilometers (40 miles) 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 international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.

Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent began erupting in late December. Satellite images showed how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.

___

Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Maryland, and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Tonga in need of 'sustained support' after devastating volcanic eruption


Tongans said they were determined to rebuild their battered homeland in the wake of last week's devastating eruption and tsunami as a massive clean up continued Saturday in the Pacific kingdom

.

© Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting FM87.5 via REUTERS

The powerful eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano last Saturday triggered a tsunami that crashed across the Tongan archipelago, affecting more than 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations.

Tongan journalist Marian Kupu said most locals are adamant on remaining as the huge recovery efforts began.

"We want to stay here in our country because this is what identifies us as Tongans. We want to rebuild our country and unite and move on," Kupu told AFP.

Toxic ash polluted drinking water supplies, crops were destroyed and at least two villages have been completely wiped out.

An estimated one cubic kilometre of material blasted from the volcano, and experts expect Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai to remain active "for weeks to months".

"Tonga's people are going to need sustained support responding to a disaster of this scale," Sione Hufanga, the United Nations Coordination Specialist in Tonga said.

"The people of Tonga are still overwhelmed with the magnitude of the disaster."

Tonga ranks third on the World Risk Report, which measures countries on their susceptibility to experiencing natural disasters.

But, despite the risk, Kupu said most Tongans wanted to stay.

"It's this feeling of pride that we have here, that we don't want to leave the country we were born and raised in," she said.

One survivor from the island of Atata, which was flattened by the tsunami, told her he would return to the island even after the devastation, she added.

"He explained he wished to go back because his parents are buried there, he was born there and his life is there.

"He wished the government or anybody would help rebuild his little island so he could go back."

'Unprecedented disaster'

The New Zealand and Australian defence forces have started delivering urgent relief supplies, particularly water, to Tonga but an Australian minister said fears of unleashing a "Covid crisis" were complicating aid efforts.

Tonga is Covid-free and has strict border control policies, requiring contactless delivery of aid, and a three week quarantine period for any aid personnel who wish to enter the country.

"It's a very, very difficult time for the people of Tonga," Australia's international development minister Zed Seselja said, but added: "We respect absolutely the desire of the Tongan government not to add a Covid crisis to a humanitarian crisis caused by a tsunami."

Meanwhile a third New Zealand navy vessel carrying helicopters, water, tarpaulins, milk powder and engineering equipment is on its way to Tonga and is expected to arrive early next week.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare said all deliveries will be contactless in accordance with Tonga's Covid-19 protocols.

The Tongan government has called the dual eruption-tsunami "an unprecedented disaster" and declared a nearly one-month national emergency.

The eruption broke a vital undersea communications cable linking Tonga with the rest of the world, and it is expected to be at least a month before all communication services are fully restored.

In the meantime partial communications has been established, although mobile network provider Digicel said the high number of calls to the island was producing delays.

(AFP)

'Proud' Tongans determined to rebuild battered homeland after eruption



Fri, January 21, 2022

Tongans said they were determined to rebuild their battered homeland in the wake of last week's devastating eruption and tsunami as a massive clean up continued Saturday in the Pacific kingdom.

The powerful eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano last Saturday triggered a tsunami that crashed across the Tongan archipelago, affecting more than 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations.

Tongan journalist Marian Kupu said most locals are adamant on remaining as the huge recovery efforts began.

"We want to stay here in our country because this is what identifies us as Tongans. We want to rebuild our country and unite and move on," Kupu told AFP.

Toxic ash polluted drinking water supplies, crops were destroyed and at least two villages have been completely wiped out.

An estimated one cubic kilometre of material blasted from the volcano, and experts expect Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai to remain active "for weeks to months".

"Tonga's people are going to need sustained support responding to a disaster of this scale," Sione Hufanga, the United Nations Coordination Specialist in Tonga said.

"The people of Tonga are still overwhelmed with the magnitude of the disaster."

Tonga ranks third on the World Risk Report, which measures countries on their susceptibility to experiencing natural disasters.

But, despite the risk, Kupu said most Tongans wanted to stay.

"It's this feeling of pride that we have here, that we don't want to leave the country we were born and raised in," she said.

One survivor from the island of Atata, which was flattened by the tsunami, told her he would return to the island even after the devastation, she added.

"He explained he wished to go back because his parents are buried there, he was born there and his life is there.

"He wished the government or anybody would help rebuild his little island so he could go back."

- 'Unprecedented disaster' -

The New Zealand and Australian defence forces have started delivering urgent relief supplies, particularly water, to Tonga but an Australian minister said fears of unleashing a "Covid crisis" were complicating aid efforts.

Tonga is Covid-free and has strict border control policies, requiring contactless delivery of aid, and a three week quarantine period for any aid personnel who wish to enter the country.

"It's a very, very difficult time for the people of Tonga," Australia's international development minister Zed Seselja said, but added: "We respect absolutely the desire of the Tongan government not to add a Covid crisis to a humanitarian crisis caused by a tsunami."

Meanwhile a third New Zealand navy vessel carrying helicopters, water, tarpaulins, milk powder and engineering equipment is on its way to Tonga and is expected to arrive early next week.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare said all deliveries will be contactless in accordance with Tonga's Covid-19 protocols.

The Tongan government has called the dual eruption-tsunami "an unprecedented disaster" and declared a nearly one-month national emergency.

The eruption broke a vital undersea communications cable linking Tonga with the rest of the world, and it is expected to be at least a month before all communication services are fully restored.

In the meantime partial communications has been established, although mobile network provider Digicel said the high number of calls to the island was producing delays.

cf/al/oho

Tonga's Olympic Flagbearer Raising Funds to Help Islands After Volcano Eruption, Tsunami

The tsunami wiped off several small settlements in outlying islands off the face of the map

Published January 20, 2022

AP Photo/Getty Images
Left: Photo of damage caused by a tsunami that struck Tonga. Right: Pita Taufatofua.

Pita Taufatofua, known as the "Shirtless Tongan" carrying Tonga's flag at the Olympics, has established a GoFundMe page to help rebuild areas devastated by a tsunami following a volcanic eruption.

Taufatofua said that though the funds will be used to work on long-term projects to rebuild, they're also using funds to address immediate needs such as food and fuel.

As of Thursday evening, the "Tonga Tsunami relief by Pita Taufatofua" verified GoFundMe page has raised over $580,000 Australian dollars (over $400,000 U.S. dollars).

At least three people have been confirmed killed after the volcanic eruption 40 miles north of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, and the tsunami that followed. Several small settlements in outlying islands were wiped off the face of the map, according to the Red Cross and official reports, necessitating the evacuation of several hundred residents.


TONGAJAN 18
Despite Huge Volcano Blast, Tonga Avoids Widespread Disaster

TSUNAMIJAN 15
Pacific Tsunami Threat Recedes, Volcano Ash Hinders Response

"In preparation and through the recovery efforts we are seeking your donations to help our island Kingdom," Taufatofua wrote on the page, adding that though he is training in Australia, he was mobilizing "all the assistance I can to send to our beloved Tonga."

As the massive undersea Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday, Tongans from around the world gazed on as their relatives live streamed images of billowing clouds of ash, gas and steam emerging from beneath the depths.

Then darkness.

The eruption severed Tonga's single fiber-optic cable, rendering the entire Pacific archipelago offline and unable to communicate with the rest of the world — and leaving their loved ones terrified about what might have happened.

“It was absolutely crazy,” said Koniseti Liutai, a Tongan who lives in Australia.

“We were talking with family and relatives, because they were excitedly showing us the volcano's activities, then we heard the explosion and the big bang and everything went dark,” he said. “Then the next information we got was the tsunami warning and then the tsunami hitting; we were all absolutely fearing the worst.”

It wasn't only family and friends who could not get through. Huge ash clouds made backup communication by satellite phone next to impossible, and world leaders were not even able to get in touch with their Tongan counterparts to see what help they needed.

As the ash cleared, satellite communication improved and Tonga's telecoms operator, Digicel, said it had been able to restore international call services to some areas late Wednesday.

With the resumption of some communications, more photos have begun to emerge of the destruction, showing the once-verdant islands turned a charcoal black by a thick coating of volcanic dust.

Coastlines are strewn with debris, while people work to clean streets and walkways.

The 2-centimeter (0.78 inch) layer of ash that rendered the runway at Fua’amotu International Airport unusable has now been cleared, and the first flights carrying fresh water and other aid arrived Thursday.

A repair ship is being sent from Papua New Guinea to work on the undersea cable, but it will take some time to get to Tonga and the company in charge estimates it could take longer than a month to repair the line.

Given that the cable runs right through the volcanic zone, any new volcanic activity could completely scupper even that timeline.
AP/NBC

Aerial images reveal true devastation of Tongan tsunami on remote islands

Sean Seddon

METRO UK

Tuesday 18 Jan 2022 

Some of Tonga’s 170 islands are still unaccessible after a volcano eruption this weekend (Picture: New Zealand Defence Force/AFP/Maxar/Reuters)

The true death toll from the Tongan volcano and tsunami is still emerging, with distress signals detected on one remote island.

Satellite villages have revealed mass destruction after huge waves inundated communities after an eruption on Saturday.

Emergency services are still attempting to make contact with remote outcrops of the South Pacific kingdom, which is made up of 170 islands.

Humanitarian efforts are being hampered by a thick layer of ash covering the archipelago’s main airport which is preventing relief flights from landing.

The death toll stands at just two officially but with evidence of further devastation mounting, there are fears that the number could climb once the true cost is assessed.

Reconnaissance flights revealed an entire village was wiped out on Mango island and buildings had collapsed on nearby Atata island.

Curtis Tuâihalangingie, Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, said: ‘People panic, people run and get injuries’.

Satellite images taken before and after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai reveal its effects (Picture: Reuters)

Entire islands have been blanketed in thick layers of ash sent into the air by the eruption (Picture: Reuters)

Satelite and aerial images are being used to assess the damage to islands which can’t be reached by aid efforts (Picture: AFP)

The Royal New Zealand Air Force has been assisting with efforts in recent days (Picture: Reuters)

He described aerial images taken by the New Zealand Defence Force as ‘alarming’, adding: ‘Possibly there will be more deaths and we just pray that is not the case.’

Australia’s minister for the Pacific has pledged to help evacuate people from the low-lying, isolated islands of Ha’apai, describing conditions there as ‘very tough, we understand, with many houses being destroyed in the tsunami’.

The United Nations had earlier reported a distress signal was detected in Ha’apai, where Mango is located.

The Tongan navy previously reported the remote area was hit by waves estimated to be up to 30ft high.

Atata and Mango islands, which have a joint population of around 150, are within 45 miles of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano.

The huge explosion, which was heard 1,430 miles way, sent shockwaves across the Pacific Ocean and blackened the sky with a colossal column of ash and smoke.
Underwater volcano eruption off Tongan coast sparks tsunami warnings

Tonga is situated in an area of high volcanic activity and the region is no stranger to natural disasters (Picture: AP)

Roads have been cut off by water and ash, further hampering aid efforts (Picture: Tea Tuur)

Buildings have been washed away after huge waves battered coastlines (Picture: Tea Tuur)

Tongan officials fear the waves caused by the volcano ‘possibly went through Atata from one end to the other’.

The UN said it hoped the airport’s runway would be operational by Wednesday and New Zealand has deployed two ships loaded with aid and workers.

With Tongan officials warning about price gouging in the face of shortages, the country is expected to set out a formal request for international aid in the coming days.

The country’s main undersea communications cable was also badly damaged during the tsunami, further cutting off the islands.

Samiuela Fonua, the chair of Tonga Cable, said there were two cuts in the undersea cable that would not be fixed until volcanic activity ceased, adding: ‘The condition of the site is still pretty messy at the moment.’

Angela Glover, a 50-year-old animal charity worker from Brighton, became the first confirmed victim after she was swept away by high waters on the island of Tongatapu.

Aid crews survey ‘extensive damage’ in Tonga as island nation remains largely cut off

Issued on: 18/01/2022 

Satellite images shows the main port facilities in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, before (L) and after (R) the main eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, January 18, 2022. © 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters; photomontage by France 24

Text by: FRANCE 24

Aid agencies reported “extensive damage” in the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday following a massive underwater volcanic blast and tsunami, as the first death from the disaster was confirmed.

Early indications of the scale of the crisis on the virtually cut-off island kingdom were emerging through patchy satellite phone contact with Tonga, surveillance flights and satellite images, three days after the volcanic eruption.

The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami had been found, her family said. At least one other person in Tonga was reported missing.

Australia and New Zealand, which scrambled Orion reconnaissance plane flights over Tonga the previous day, readied aid ships for deployment to Tonga.

The UN said a signal had been detected from a distress beacon on a low-lying island, Mango.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said surveillance flights had confirmed “substantial property damage” on Mango and another island, Fonoi.

“An active distress beacon had been detected from Mango,” OCHA agency said in an urgent report. The island is home to more than 30 people, according to Tongan census figures.

Volcanic ash and dust

OCHA also reported “extensive damage” on the western beaches of the main island Tongatapu, “with several resorts and/or houses destroyed and/or badly damaged”.

Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa was blanketed in two centimetres of volcanic ash and dust, it said. Power had been restored to parts of the capital. Local phones systems had been restored but international communications were severed.

The capital’s waterfront, it said, was “seriously damaged with rocks and debris pushed inland from the tsunami”.

Satellite images released by the United Nations Satellite Centre showed the impact of the eruption and tsunami on the tiny island of Nomuka, one of the closest to the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano.

The satellite centre said of 104 structures analysed in the cloud-free area, 41 structures were identified as damaged and almost all were covered with ash.

Tonga’s airport had expected to clear volcanic ash from the capital’s runway by Monday, OCHA said.

Australia said the ash must be cleared before it can land a C-130 military plane with aid.

The human toll remains largely unknown.

‘Cling on to a tree’

The first confirmed death was Angela Glover, a 50-year-old who ran a stray animals charity and was reported missing by her husband after the tsunami hit.

“Earlier today my family was sadly informed that the body of my sister Angela has been found,” her brother Nick Eleini said after being given the news by the husband, James Glover.

“James was able to cling on to a tree for quite a long time, but Angela was unable to do so and was washed away with the dogs,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

Tonga’s worried neighbours are still scrambling to grasp the scale of the damage, which New Zealand’s leader Jacinda Ardern said was believed to be “significant”.

Australia’s HMAS Adelaide, and New Zealand’s HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa were deployed in case of any aid request from Tonga, which lies three days’ sailing away.

Water is expected to be a priority, New Zealand’s defence minister said Tuesday, as water sources in Tonga are at risk of being poisoned by the volcanic fallout.

France, which has territories in the South Pacific, pledged to help the people of Tonga’s “most urgent needs” in cooperation with Australia and New Zealand.

Australia’s international development minister, Zed Seselja, said a small contingent of Australian police stationed in Tonga had delivered a “pretty concerning” initial evaluation of the western beaches area.

‘Devastation’

Major aid agencies, which would usually rush in to provide emergency humanitarian relief, said they were stuck in a holding pattern, unable to contact local staff.

“From what little updates we have, the scale of the devastation could be immense—especially for outlying islands,” said Katie Greenwood, IFRC’s Pacific Head of Delegation.

Even when relief efforts get under way, they may be complicated by Covid-19 entry restrictions. Tonga only recently reported its first-ever coronavirus case.

Saturday’s volcanic blast was one the largest recorded in decades, erupting 30 kilometres (about 19 miles) into the air and depositing ash, gas and acid rain across a swathe of the Pacific.

The eruption was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The massive waves even prompted an oil spill in Peru, as they rocked a ship unloading crude at a refinery near Lima. The spill left at least two kilometres of the country’s central coast dirtied with oil, Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez said on Monday.

The eruption severed an undersea communications cable between Tonga and Fiji that operators said would take up to two weeks to repair.

“We’re getting sketchy information, but it looks like the cable has been cut,” Southern Cross Cable Network’s networks director Dean Veverka told AFP.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Five facts about disaster-hit Tonga


By AFP
Published January 18, 2022
Tonga volcano - Copyright AFP

The Pacific island nation of Tonga has suffered widespread damage after a huge underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami on the weekend.

The disaster has virtually cut the country off from the rest of the world as neighbours and aid organisations try to organise assistance.

Here are five facts about Tonga:

– Remote archipelago –

Tonga is made up of 169 islands in the South Pacific, spread over 800 kilometres (500 miles) in a north–south line. Only 36 of them are inhabited.

The population is around 105,000. A similar number lives overseas — mainly in New Zealand, Australia and the United States — and their remittances prop up the economy.

The capital Nuku’alofa was less than 70 kilometres from the Saturday eruption, according to the US Geological Survey, which blanketed the city with two centimetres of volcanic ash and dust.

Tonga’s remote location means it can get cut off from the world if there are problems with the undersea cable that links it to the internet through Fiji.

The latest eruption has severed that connection, reducing information from Tonga to a trickle.

The nation was previously isolated for two weeks in 2019 when a ship’s anchor cut the cable. A small, locally operated satellite service was set up to allow minimal contact with the outside world.

– Ancient monarchy –

Tonga was settled around 1,500 BC, and claims to be the only remaining indigenous monarchy in the Pacific islands.

Its monarchy can trace its history back 1,000 years. By the 13th century, the nation wielded power and influence over surrounding islands, including Samoa, nearly 900 kilometres to the east.

Various islands had royalty until 1845 when they were united under King George Tupou I, who became known as the leader of modern Tonga.

It is the only Pacific island nation that was never formally colonised. Instead, it negotiated to become a protected state under a Treaty of Friendship with Britain in 1900 while maintaining its sovereignty.

Tonga became independent in 1970.

– Political changes –

Tonga was under feudal rule until 2010, when the monarchy boosted democratic representation in the wake of rioting four years earlier that razed Nuku’alofa’s downtown area.

But a string of political scandals and perceptions of government incompetence have eroded faith in the fledgling democracy’s institutions.

Siaosi Sovaleni was appointed prime minister after an election in November in which corruption and Covid-19 were on top of the agenda.

Tonga was one of the last remaining places in the world without Covid until November last year, when it detected its first coronavirus case.

– No business, no sport, no housework on Sunday –

King Tupou I converted to Christianity after coming under the influence of missionaries.

Christianity is a vital part of Tongan life and Sundays are devoted to church, family, feasting and rest.

Businesses and shops are closed by law, modest dress is required and even in the rugby-mad isles, the no-sport Sunday is strictly observed.

– Tin Can Island –

Niuafo’ou, a small island with an underwater volcano attached, is widely known in the world of stamp collectors as Tin Can Island.

The island achieved its nickname because it has no natural anchorage, and for decades the only way for mail to arrive and leave was for a strong swimmer to take a biscuit tin out to passing ships.

According to modern legend, the practice was abandoned in 1931 when a swimmer fell victim to a shark attack.

Mail and stamps postmarked on the island pre-1931 are much sought after by collectors.

AFTER THE FLOOD 

Aliki Kraterou

17 Jan 2022

SHOCKING before and after satellite photos have revealed the full scale of the devastation caused by the catastrophic tsunami in Tonga which is even visible from space.

According to images taken around 12 hours later, the island of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai has completely disappeared following the volcanic eruption.

7

An image taken on December 8, compared to one taken on January 16, shows the damage caused by the eruptionCredit: UNOSAT

7

A satellite image taken in April 2020 and an image taken after the volcano eruption shows the area covered in volcanic ashCredit: UNOSAT

7

The island of Tongatapu has been severely damagedCredit: UNOSAT

7

The volcano last erupted in 2014Credit: UNOSAT

The main island Tongatapu has been heavily affected, with water damage being visible to the northern and southern sides.

The volcano which last erupted in 2014, has also caused damage to the islands of Uoleva and Nomuka.

While Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai has erupted regularly over the past few decades, early data suggests the eruption was the biggest since Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines 30 years ago, New Zealand-based volcanologist Shane Cronin told Radio New Zealand.

He said: "This is an eruption best witnessed from space."

While initial reports do not suggest mass casualties, two people have been reported missing.

"Further volcanic activity cannot be ruled out," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in the update today.

It added that the official assessments have not been released yet as the communications have been badly hit.

Concern has been mounting for the inhabitants of two small low-lying islands- Fonoi and Mango -after a distress beacon was detected

According to the Tonga government, 36 people live on Mango and 69 on Fonoi.

It comes as the body of the missing British charity worker Angela Glover, 50, was discovered by her husband James earlier today.

Two more people have drowned at the coast of Peru after the tsunami sparked high waves.

The impact of the eruption was felt as far away as Fiji, New Zealand, the United States and Japan.

Aid workers have warned 80,000 of Tonga's residents could be affected.

Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand have sent surveillance flights today to assess the damage.

Australia's Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said Australian police had visited beaches and reported significant damage with "houses thrown around".

Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, said Tonga was concerned about the risk of aid deliveries spreading COVID-19 to the island, which is COVID-free.

"We don't want to bring in another wave - a tsunami of COVID-19," Tu'ihalangingie told Reuters by telephone.

The Haatafu Beach Resort, on the Hihifo peninsula, 13 miles west of the capital Nukualofa, was completely wiped out, the owners said on Facebook.

The family that manages the resort had run for their lives through the bush to escape the tsunami, it said. The whole western coastline has been completely destroyed along with Kanukupolu village, the resort said.

The Red Cross said it was mobilising its network to respond to what it called the worst volcanic eruption the Pacific has experienced in decades.

Alexander Matheou, the federation's Asia Pacific regional director, said water purification, providing shelter, and reuniting families were the priorities - but they had yet to establish direct contact with colleagues on the ground and were relying on estimates based on previous such disasters.

7

Dramatic official aerial maps showed the eruption cloud over TongaCredit: Tonga Meteorological Services, Government of Tonga

7

Smoking Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Jan 7

7

Brit charity worker Angela Glover was confirmed dead

Images reveal devastation in tsunami-hit Tonga


By AFP
Chris FOLEY

A volcano that exploded on the Pacific island nation of Tonga has almost disappeared from view, new images revealed Tuesday, with swathes of the island nation smothered in grey ash and dust or damaged by a tsunami.

Tonga has been virtually cut off from the rest of the world since Saturday’s volcanic blast — one of the largest recorded in decades.

The volcano erupted 30 kilometres (about 19 miles) into the air and deposited ash, gas and acid rain across a large area of the Pacific.

Three days after the eruption, the outside world is still scrambling to understand the scale of the disaster, using patchy satellite phone connections, surveillance flights and satellite images.

New Zealand said two people have been confirmed killed, citing Tonga police on the island. One of them is a British woman. Her family say the body was found after she was swept away by the tsunami.

Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies on Tuesday showed that where most of the volcanic structure stood above sea level a few days ago, there is now just open sea.

Only two relatively small volcanic islands were still visible above sea level after the eruption.

In fact, “what we saw above the water — that has now been destroyed — was only the tip of a volcano that had grown on the rim of the massive underwater volcano,” said Monash University vulcanologist Heather Handley.

New Zealand released aerial images taken from a surveillance flight the previous day, revealing a tree-lined coast transformed from green to grey by the volcanic fallout.

– ‘Distress beacon’ –

Wrecked buildings were visible on the foreshore alongside others that appeared intact.

Volcanic ash blanketed island fields, images from an Australian Defence Force P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft showed.

Shipping containers had been knocked over like dominoes at a port on the main island.

Australia’s HMAS Adelaide and New Zealand’s HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa were ordered to be ready for a possible aid request from Tonga, which lies three-five days’ sailing away.

With water sources feared to be poisoned by volcanic fallout, the Red Cross said it was sending 2,516 water containers.

France, which has territories in the South Pacific, pledged to help the people of Tonga’s “most urgent needs”.

The UN said a signal had been detected from a distress beacon on a low-lying island, Mango.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said surveillance flights had confirmed “substantial property damage” on Mango, home to some 30 people, and another island, Fonoi.

The UN agency also reported “extensive damage” on the western beaches of the main island Tongatapu, “with several resorts and/or houses destroyed and/or badly damaged”.

Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa was shrouded in two centimetres of volcanic ash and dust, it said.

Power had been restored to parts of the capital. Local phone systems had been restored but international communications were severed.

– ‘Cling on to a tree’ –

The capital’s waterfront, the UN body said, was “seriously damaged with rocks and debris pushed inland from the tsunami”.

Satellite images released by the United Nations Satellite Centre showed the impact of the eruption and tsunami on the tiny island of Nomuka, one of the closest to the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano.

The satellite centre said of 104 structures analysed in the cloud-free area, 41 structures were identified as damaged.

Tonga’s airport was working to remove volcanic ash from the capital’s runway. Australia said the ash must be cleared before it can land a C-130 military plane with aid.

The human toll remains largely unknown.

One of the two confirmed dead was Angela Glover, a 50-year-old who ran a stray animals charity and was reported missing by her husband after the tsunami hit.

“Earlier today my family was sadly informed that the body of my sister Angela has been found,” her brother Nick Eleini said after being given the news by the husband, James Glover.

“James was able to cling on to a tree for quite a long time, but Angela was unable to do so and was washed away with the dogs,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

No details were released about the other death.

-‘Cable has been cut’ –

Even when relief efforts get under way, they may be complicated by Covid-19 entry restrictions.

Saturday’s eruption was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.

In Peru, authorities sealed off three beaches Monday after they were hit by an oil spill blamed on freak waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.

The blast severed an undersea communications cable between Tonga and Fiji that operators said would take up to two weeks to repair.

“We’re getting sketchy information, but it looks like the cable has been cut,” Southern Cross Cable Network’s networks director Dean Veverka told AFP.