New Zealand and Australia yesterday sent military surveillance flights to Tonga 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 today.
Photo: Tonga Geological Services / Reuters
No casualties have been confirmed on Tonga, although a British woman was reported missing.
The British Foreign Office yesterday said it was “supporting the family of a British woman reported missing in Tonga and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Relatives of Angela Glover, who ran an animal rescue center in Tonga’s capital, said she has not been seen since she was swept away by a tsunami wave. Her husband, James, survived by clinging on to a tree.
Angela Glover’s brother Nick Eleini told the Guardian: “I don’t think this is going to have a happy ending.”
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 was likely severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks.
The loss of the cable leaves most Tongans unable to use the Internet or make telephone calls abroad. Those that have managed to get messages out described their nation as looking like a moonscape as they began cleaning up from the tsunami and falling volcanic ash.
Tsunami waves of about 80cm 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 did not think the eruption would have a significant impact on the 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°C global average cooling, said Alan Robock, a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Satellite images showed the spectacular undersea eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the Pacific.
A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent pressure shock waves around the planet twice, altering atmospheric pressure that might have briefly helped clear the fog in Seattle, the US National Weather Service said.
Large waves were detected as far away as the Caribbean due to pressure changes generated.
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 that thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
In a video 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.
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