‘More unknown’: Tonga still exists due to volcanic eruptions | Earthquake Stories

Suva, Fiji – Global assistance en route to the southern Pacific kingdom of Tonga, where a large underwater volcano erupted on Saturday.

The explosion on the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai site was recorded as a magnitude 7.8 earthquake by the US Tsunami Warning System – the largest since Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 – and triggered tsunami waves from Tonga to Peru, Ecuador and California.

Scientists estimate that using the same power of 1,000 Hiroshima nuclear bombs, the explosion was heard more than 750km (466 miles) from Fiji.

The waves drowned two people in Peru and wreaked havoc on New Zealand and California.

The New Zealand High Commission in Tonga confirmed this Monday severe damage has started on the west coast of the country, an area known as the home of several recreational areas, and on the coast of the country’s capital, Nuku’alofa.

There have been no reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga so far, and communications have been discontinued. A British woman is reported missing.

Dark ash covers the capital, while officials work to establish connections with smaller islands “as a necessity”.

It was the second volcanic eruption in less than a month, when Tongan authorities revealed that it was seven times larger than the last eruption.

Shane Cronin, a mountains expert at Auckland University, speaking in Washington, DC, National Public Radio, said the eruption was the largest of three causes.

Circumcision in a foreign country

Adding to the concerns of their loved ones living overseas, are Tonga messages and foreign powers are about to be eliminated, and global phones and the internet are still dead.

“The only underwater cable in Fiji will never work,” Amanda Watson, a researcher at the Australian National University Department of Pacific Affairs, told Al Jazeera.

“In 2019, Tonga did not have access to the internet when the seabed was damaged. It took about two nights to repair it, and repairs could take the same amount of time on the occasion,” Watson said.

Tongan people are now less likely to communicate with relatives or even their loved ones abroad, which adds to the problem for many. ”

On Monday evening, New Zealand TV confirmed it would take several weeks for international phones and internet services to be restored in Tonga, after a submarine scan showed a double fracture; one of them was near the hill.

There is a possibility of further delay if there is an additional explosion or if the cable is found to be buried on the sea bed.

Steam, smoke, and ash are increasing after a volcano erupts about 40 miles[63 km]off the coast of Tuku’s capital Nuku’alofa. [Lothar Slabon/EPA]

Global assistance

Australia and New Zealand on Monday sent flights to see damage to Tonga and said he was cooperating with the United States, France and other countries in responding to humanitarian response.

Australia’s Pacific Affairs Minister Zed Seselja said on Twitter that accommodations, kitchens and sanitary equipment were being upgraded to RAAF aircraft on Monday evening, to be sent to help Tongan people affected by the tsunami.

He also said that Australia had donated $ 1m to provide emergency assistance and emergency services to the people of Tonga, after the inspection team found that Tongan airport was operational.

Some experts say that access to safe drinking water and food should be crucial, since toxic ash is also a public health hazard.

The United Nations says its regional offices are monitoring the situation and are alert to assist if needed.

“The UN family in the Pacific is ready to help the Tongan people recover from the eruption over the weekend and after the tsunami,” UN Resident Coordinator Jonathan Veitch told Al Jazeera of Fiji.

“In close collaboration with the Tongan government and our international partners, we are working with the government to ensure that our assistance is carried out. Our teams are waiting for emergency assistance to assist, and UN staff in Tonga are already assisting.” encouraging each other and taking action in this country. “

In the meantime, there has been a lot of support from the Tongan diaspora and others around the world, and many are eager to send donations to the affected area.

In a statement on Monday, Tonga Speaker of Parliament Lord Fakafanua said more information about the Tonga Disaster Relief Fund would be announced soon; emphasizing that all financial aid costs “must be guaranteed, transparent and acceptable”.

‘Another explosion is possible’

After the eruption on Saturday, several volcanologists and geologists were quick to warn that Tonga might not be in serious danger.

“Much is unknown,” Judith Hubbard, a geologist who specializes in seismic accidents at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.

“More eruptions are possible from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, but we do not know the exact time, magnitude, or magnitude of this eruption. It may be possible to do more research on the volcano after the eruption, but that would be difficult because the volcano is so underwater and so insecure. ”

Meanwhile, Tongan people around the world are striving to maintain a positive outlook.

In a video released Monday, Her Royal Highness Princess Latufuipeka of Tonga – daughter of King Tupou VI and Tonga High Commissioner in Australia – encouraged her people:

“Let us focus on gratitude, faith, and refuge in God,” she humbly said.