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A30 world news
Diamars 18 Januari 2022

Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption

network but the nation’s iso- Dave Snider, the tsunami
lated location made any long- warning coordinator for the
term solution difficult. National Tsunami Warning
Center in Palmer, Alaska,
The cable also broke three said it was very unusual for
years ago, possibly due to a a volcanic eruption to affect
ship dragging an anchor. At an entire ocean basin, and
first Tongans had no access the spectacle was both “hum-
to the internet but then some bling and scary.”
limited access was restored
using satellites until the cable The U.S. Geological Survey
was repaired. estimated the eruption caused
the equivalent of a magnitude
Ardern said the capital, 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said
Nuku’alofa, was covered in tsunamis generated by volca-
a thick film of volcanic dust, noes rather than earthquakes
contaminating water supplies are relatively rare.
and making fresh water a vital
need. Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau,
who chairs the New Zealand
Aid agencies said thick ash Tonga Business Council, said
and smoke had prompted she hoped the relatively low
authorities to ask people to level of the tsunami waves
wear masks and drink bottled would have allowed most
water. people to get to safety, al-
(AP) — New Zealand and most Tongans unable to use the planet twice, altering at- though she worried about
Australia were able to the internet or make phone mospheric pressure that may In a video posted on Face- those living on islands closest
send military surveillance calls abroad. Those that have have briefly helped clear out book, Nightingale Filihia to the volcano.
flights to Tonga on Mon- managed to get messages out the fog in Seattle, accord- was sheltering at her family’s
day to assess the damage described their country as ing to the National Weather home from a rain of volcanic “We are praying that the
a huge undersea volcanic looking like a moonscape as Service. Large waves were ash and tiny pieces of rock damage is just to infrastruc-
eruption left in the Pacific they began cleaning up from detected as far away as the that turned the sky pitch ture and people were able to
island nation. the tsunami waves and volca- Caribbean due to pressure black. get to higher land,” she said.
nic ash fall. changes generated by the
A towering ash cloud since eruption. “It’s really bad. They told us The explosion of the Hunga
Saturday’s eruption had pre- Tsunami waves of about 80 to stay indoors and cover our Tonga Hunga Ha’apai vol-
vented earlier flights. New centimeters (2.7 feet) crashed Samiuela Fonua, who chairs doors and windows because cano, about 64 kilometers (40
Zealand hopes to send es- into Tonga’s shoreline, and the board at Tonga Cable Ltd. it’s dangerous,” she said. miles) north of Nuku’alofa,
sential supplies, including New Zealand Prime Minis- which owns the single cable “I felt sorry for the people. was the latest in a series of
much-needed drinking wa- ter Jacinda Ardern described that connects Tonga to the Everyone just froze when dramatic eruptions. In late
ter, on a military transport damage to boats and shops on outside world via Fiji, said the explosion happened. We 2014 and early 2015, erup-
plane Tuesday. Tonga’s shoreline. The waves the cable appeared to have rushed home.” Outside the tions created a small new is-
crossed the Pacific, drowning been severed about 10 to 15 house, people were seen car- land and disrupted interna-
A British woman who was two people in Peru and caus- minutes after the eruption. rying umbrellas for protec- tional air travel to the Pacific
missing has been found dead, ing minor damage from New He said the cable lies atop tion. archipelago for several days.
her family said, in the first re- Zealand to Santa Cruz, Cali- and within coral reef, which
ported fatality on Tonga. fornia. can be sharp. One complicating factor to Earth imaging company Plan-
any international aid effort et Labs PBC had watched the
The brother of Angela Glov- Scientists said they didn’t Fonua said a ship would need is that Tonga has so far man- island in recent days after
er, who ran an animal rescue think the eruption would to pull up the cable to assess aged to avoid any outbreaks a new volcanic vent began
center, said the 50-year-old have a significant impact on the damage and then crews of COVID-19. Ardern said erupting in late December.
died after being swept away the Earth’s climate. would need to fix it. A single New Zealand’s military staff Satellite images showed how
by a wave. break might take a week to were all fully vaccinated and drastically the volcano had
Huge volcanic eruptions can repair, he said, while multiple willing to follow any proto- shaped the area, creating a
Nick Eleini said his sister’s sometimes cause temporary breaks could take up to three cols established by Tonga. growing island off Tonga.
body had been found and global cooling as sulfur di- weeks. He added that it was
that her husband survived. oxide is pumped into the unclear yet when it would be
stratosphere. But in the case safe for a ship to venture near
“I understand that this ter- of the Tonga eruption, initial the undersea volcano to un-
rible accident came about satellite measurements indi- dertake the work.
as they tried to rescue their cated the amount of sulfur
dogs,” Eleini told Sky News. dioxide released would only A second undersea cable that
have a tiny effect of perhaps connects the islands within
He said it had been his sis- 0.01 Celsius (0.02 Fahren- Tonga also appeared to have
ter’s life dream” to live in the heit) global average cooling, been severed, Fonua said.
South Pacific and “she loved said Alan Robock, a professor However, a local phone net-
her life there.” at Rutgers University. work was working, allowing
Tongans to call each other.
Communications with Tonga Satellite images showed the But he said the lingering
remained extremely limited. spectacular undersea erup- ash cloud was continuing to
The company that owns the tion Saturday evening, with a make even satellite phone
single underwater fiber-optic plume of ash, steam and gas calls abroad difficult.
cable that connects the island rising like a giant mushroom
nation to the rest of the world above the South Pacific wa- He said Tonga, home to
said it likely was severed ters. 105,000 people, had been in
in the eruption and repairs discussions with New Zea-
could take weeks. A sonic boom could be heard land about getting a second
as far away as Alaska and sent international fiber-optic ca-
The loss of the cable leaves pressure shockwaves around ble to ensure a more robust