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TONGA, KOMPAS.com – Government Tonga and international aid agencies reported significant damage to the main island of Tonga after the incident underwater volcanic eruption and was followed by the tsunami on Saturday (14/1/2022).
A UN Humanitarian Agency official said several resorts and homes along Tongatapu’s west coast had been destroyed or badly damaged, with the capital Nuku’alofa covered in ash.
Initial reports after the disaster began to arrive on Monday (17/1/2022), after Australia and New Zealand sending military reconnaissance flights to the isolated Pacific island nation.
From there, photos sightings of Tonga after an underwater volcanic eruption can be found.
Damage reports have also come from Tonga using satellite phone services.
The reconnaissance flight also detected significant damage to the small islands of Mango and Fonoi, which are inhabited by 105 people.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows houses and buildings in Tonga before an underwater volcanic eruption.–
The UN humanitarian agency said an active distress beacon had been detected from Mango.
The eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano located about 64 kilometers north of Nuku’alofa is known to have damaged an underwater fiber optic cable that provides telephone and internet services to the island.
Also read: First Pictures of Tonga After Eruption Show Scale of Damage
Operators say cable repairs can take from one to three weeks, depending on the extent of the damage.
Tongan authorities themselves have urged residents to wear masks and drink bottled water because the volcanic ash has turned the air into poison and polluted the island’s fresh drinking water.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows houses and buildings in Tonga on January 18, 2022, or after an underwater volcanic eruption that has been covered in ash and caused some damage.
-Australian and New Zealand military officials said their cargo planes could not deliver much-needed relief supplies until the runway at Tonga’s airport was cleared of ashes.
The relief effort plans are also complicated by concerns from Tongan authorities about aid workers bringing Covid-19 to the island, who have so far avoided the disease.
The eruption triggered tsunami warnings across much of the western US coastline.
Elsewhere, two people in Peru drowned in high waves triggered by the tsunami.
In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force, volcanic ash covers roofs and vegetation in the Tonga area, 17 January 2022.-
Tonga lies along the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire”, which is lined with seismic fault lines and active volcanoes.
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