Page 29 - BONDIA ARUBA JAN 17 2022

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Dialuna 17 Januari 2022

Pacific tsunami threat recedes, volcano ash hinders response

(AP) — The tsunami nificant damage to boats and
threat around the Pacific shops along the Tongan coast-
from a huge undersea vol- line. The capital, Nuku’alofa,
canic eruption receded was covered in a thick film
Sunday, but the massive of volcanic dust, Ardern said,
ash cloud covering the contaminating water supplies
tiny island nation of Ton- and making fresh water a vi-
ga prevented surveillance tal need.
flights from New Zea-
land to assess the extent of Aid agencies said thick ash
damage. and smoke had prompted
authorities to ask people to
Satellite images showed the wear masks and drink bottled
spectacular eruption Satur- water.
day evening, with a plume of
ash, steam and gas rising like In a video posted on Face-
a mushroom above the blue book, Nightingale Filihia
Pacific waters. A sonic boom was sheltering at her family’s
could be heard as far away as home from a rain of volcanic
Alaska. ash and tiny pieces of rock
that turned the sky pitch
In Tonga it sent tsunami black.
waves crashing across the
shore and people rushing to “It’s really bad. They told us than earthquakes are relative- cano eruption, sounds pretty
higher ground. to stay indoors and cover our Dave Snider, the tsunami ly rare. violent,” he wrote, adding in
doors and windows because warning coordinator for the a later post: “Raining ash and
The eruption cut the internet it’s dangerous,” she said. National Tsunami Warning Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, tiny pebbles, darkness blan-
to Tonga, leaving friends and “I felt sorry for the people. Center in Palmer, Alaska, who chairs the New Zealand keting the sky.”
family members around the Everyone just froze when said it was very unusual for Tonga Business Council, said
world anxiously trying to get the explosion happened. We a volcanic eruption to affect she hoped the relatively low The explosion of the Hunga
in touch to figure out if there rushed home.” Outside the an entire ocean basin, and level of the tsunami waves Tonga Hunga Ha’apai vol-
were any injuries. Even gov- house, people were seen car- the spectacle was both “hum- would have allowed most cano, about 64 kilometers (40
ernment websites and other rying umbrellas for protec- bling and scary.” people to get to safety, al- miles) north of Nuku’alofa,
official sources remained tion. though she worried about was the latest in a series of
without updates on Sunday The tsunami waves caused those living on islands closest dramatic eruptions. In late
afternoon. Ardern said New Zealand damage to boats as far away to the volcano. She said she 2014 and early 2015, erup-
was unable to send a sur- as New Zealand and Santa hadn’t yet been able to con- tions created a small new is-
New Zealand Prime Minis- veillance flight over Tonga Cruz, California, but did not tact her friends and family in land and disrupted interna-
ter Jacinda Ardern said there on Sunday because the ash appear to cause any wide- Tonga. tional air travel to the Pacific
had not yet been any official cloud was 63,000 feet (19,000 spread damage. Snider said archipelago for several days.
reports of injuries or deaths meters) high but they hoped he anticipated the tsunami “We are praying that the
in Tonga, but cautioned that to try again on Monday, fol- situation in the U.S. and damage is just to infrastruc- Earth imaging company Plan-
authorities hadn’t yet made lowed by supply planes and elsewhere to continue im- ture and people were able to et Labs PBC had watched the
contact with some coastal ar- navy ships. proving. get to higher land,” she said. island in recent days after
eas and smaller islands. a new volcanic vent began
One complicating factor to Tsunami advisories were ear- U.S. Secretary of State Anto- erupting in late December.
“Communication with Ton- any international aid effort lier issued for Japan, Hawaii, ny Blinken wrote on Twitter Satellite images showed how
ga remains very limited. And is that Tonga has so far man- Alaska and the U.S. Pacific he is “deeply concerned for drastically the volcano had
I know that is causing a huge aged to avoid any outbreaks coast. The U.S. Geological the people of Tonga as they shaped the area, creating a
amount of anxiety for the of COVID-19. Ardern said Survey estimated the erup- recover from the aftermath growing island off Tonga.
Tongan community here,” New Zealand’s military staff tion caused the equivalent of of a volcanic eruption and
Ardern said. were all fully vaccinated and a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. tsunami. The United States “The surface area of the is-
willing to follow any proto- Scientists said tsunamis gen- stands prepared to provide land appears to have ex-
She said there had been sig- cols established by Tonga. erated by volcanoes rather support to our Pacific neigh- panded by nearly 45% due to
bors.” ashfall,” Planet Labs said days
before the latest activity.
Tonga gets its internet via an
undersea cable from Suva, Following Saturday’s erup-
Fiji. All internet connectivity tion, residents in Hawaii,
with Tonga was lost at about Alaska and along the U.S.
6:40 p.m. local time Saturday, Pacific coast were advised to
said Doug Madory, director move away from the coast-
of internet analysis for the line to higher ground.
network intelligence firm
Kentik. Savannah Peterson watched
in shock as the water rose
On Tonga, which is home several feet in a matter of
to about 105,000 people, minutes in front of her
video posted to social media oceanfront house in Pacifica,
showed large waves washing California, just south of San
ashore in coastal areas and Francisco.
swirling around homes, a
church and other buildings. “It came up so fast, and a
A Twitter user identified as few minutes after that it was
Dr. Faka’iloatonga Taumoe- down again. It was nuts to
folau posted video showing see that happen so quickly,”
waves crashing ashore. she said. “I’ve never had wa-
ter come all the way up to my
“Can literally hear the vol- front door, and today it did.”