Tonga damage still unknown as communications cut after massive volcanic eruption, tsunami and extreme lightning
Ongoing eruption hit low-lying Pacific kingdom with massive blast on Saturday
Tonga’s communications still appear to be cut as of Sunday evening after a volcanic eruption so large it could be seen from space hit the kingdom on Saturday.
The underwater eruption sent a 1.2m tsunami rolling across the Pacific, flooding Tonga’s low-lying capital of Nuku’alofa.
The extent of casualties and property damage were still unknown on Sunday evening as communications were cut, however NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday there were no reported casualties.
Internet access to the 105,000 people across the archipelago shut down at 6.40pm on Saturday, after damage to an undersea cable that runs to Suva, Fiji, the SMH reports.
Calls via Skype were still not getting through as of Sunday afternoon.
The Australian Red Cross says it is closely monitoring the situation.
Tonga Red Cross last posted on Facebook at 4.13pm on Saturday with a tsunami warning.
The aid agency hasn’t responded since to Facebook messages from would-be supporters on how to help, or worried expatriates looking to get in contact with relatives, indicating they may be overwhelmed or communications may still be out as of Sunday night.
Social media videos show a low-level tsunami gushing over the low sea wall on Tongatapu and inundating houses.
Satellites captured images of a vast mushroom cloud shooting into the stratosphere from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, 65km north of Tonga’s main island Tongatapu on Saturday evening, the largest of a series of ongoing eruptions.
The 19km-high ash cloud was so huge it completely covered the skies over Tongatapu where 74,500 of the country’s residents live.
Tonga Parliament Buildings Project Co-ordinator Dr Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau tweeted pictures on Saturday of the darkness covering Tongatapu.
“Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky,” he wrote.
Volcanic ash can permanently damage the lungs if the tiny glass-like particles are inhaled.
The stratospheric ash created a danger to aviation with the Wellington Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre issuing a Code Red warning on Sunday, forecasting a westerly spread for the plume.
The thunderous eruptions were heard more than 800km away in Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands, while a low-level tsunami caused flooding in Samoa, the Cook Islands and the Fijian Islands of Moce, Moala, Kadavu and Taveuni, the Islands Business reported.
Nine News Sydney reported from Fiji that some low-lying Pacific villages were underwater after the booming, thunderous eruption triggered huge tidal surges.
Tonga Meteorological Services ordered a tsunami evacuation of all low-lying areas on Friday morning, well ahead of Saturday’s major blast.
The eruption sparked tsunami warnings across the Pacific Island nations all the way from Australia to the Pacific coasts of Japan and the USA.
Tsunami waves up to 1.3m were recorded in the US pacific coast states of Oregon, California and Washington and flooding was reported in Peru.
In Tonga homes and vehicles have reportedly been destroyed with footage of the devastation starting to trickle out in social media images and videos.
Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa, population 22,400, is a low-lying coastal city on Tongatapu.
With an elevation of just 3.05m, it is highly vulnerable to tsunami damage.
Thousands of people clogged the roads with traffic as they tried to flee to Tongatapu’s highest point, a 28m hill called Mata ki ’eua, news site Kanivatonga reported.
King Tupou VI was evacuated from his coastal palace.
Tonga is an archipelago of 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited. Most of the island’s residents travel between islands and get their supplies by ferry services.
It is unknown whether the tsunami has damaged the crucial sea lines of communication, or whether Tonga’s inter-island ferries headed out to deep waters in time, thanks to Friday morning’s evacuation order.
The majority of Tongans are Christians who strictly observe the Sabbath as a day of rest - but they were out picking up the pieces on Sunday, and even attended church services, ex-patriate Josephine Latu-Sanft tweeted from London.
Saturday’s giant blast followed ongoing volcanic activity including a large eruption on Friday at the 114m high Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano.
Friday’s eruption provoked 86,000 volcanic lightning strikes, which US-based meteorologist Chris Vagasky described as the “most extreme” he’d ever seen.
