Tonga volcano images: Shocking photos show island split in two
An undersea volcano erupted on Saturday near the Pacific nation of Tonga. Now the true extent of the damage can be seen from space.
Stunning photos have shown the significant damage feared to have occurred in Tonga after an underwater volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami on Saturday.
Satellite images have begun to show the extent of the eruption, with photos of the devastation able to be seen from space.
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday prompted tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in neighbouring countries – including Australia’s east coast – with huge waves on several South Pacific islands recorded.
Social media quickly became awash with photos of waves crashing against homes on the shores, and even the eruption itself filmed from space.
The violent eruption a few hours ago of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano captured by satellites GOES-West and Himawari-8. pic.twitter.com/PzV5v9apF6
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) January 15, 2022
The extent of the damage on the island remains unclear, with authorities suggesting Tonga may be stuck in cyber darkness for weeks.
An official told AFP on Monday that after the eruption cut an undersea communications cable, the country is now isolated from contact with the outside world.
“We’re getting sketchy information but it looks like the cable has been cut,” Dean Veverka, networks director of Southern Cross Cable Network, told AFP.
“It could take up to two weeks to get it repaired. The nearest cable-laying vessel is in Port Moresby,” he said.
On Monday, a Darwin-based monitoring station said another “large eruption” had been detected at the Tonga volcano, two days after the initial massive eruption triggered tsunamis across the Pacific.
The latest eruption was detected at 22.10 Sunday GMT (9.10am Monday AEDT), according to an alert by the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also said it had detected large waves in the area.
“This might be from another explosion of [the] Tonga volcano. There are no known earthquakes of significant size to generate this wave.”
Saturday’s massive volcanic eruption caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust. The eruption was so powerful it was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the US.
The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication lines down.
“The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku’alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore,” Ms Ardern said after contact with the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.
“Nuku’alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable.”
Tonga was in need of water supplies, she said, as “the ash cloud has caused contamination”. There has been no word on damage in the outer islands but early on Monday New Zealand sent an air force reconnaissance aircraft “to assist in an initial impact assessment of the area and low-lying islands,” the country’s Defence Force said.
The thick ash and smoke prompted aid authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
A 1.2m wave swept ashore in the Tongan capital with residents reporting they had fled to higher ground, leaving behind flooded houses, some with structural damage, as small stones and ash fell from the sky.
“It was massive. The ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,” resident Mere Taufa told the Stuff news website on Saturday.
She said water filled their home minutes later and she watched the wall of a neighbouring house collapse.
“We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home,” Ms Taufa said.
“You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.”
The Tongan High Commission in Australia deputy head of mission Curtis Tu’ihalangingie said there had been no confirmed deaths so far.
According to The Sun, UK woman Angela Glover, who owns Happy Sailor Tattoo in Nuku’alofa with her husband, was reported to be missing after being swept away in the tsunami.
Ms Glover was parted from husband James when a wall of water poured through their coastal home.
The eruption is said to be “many times” more powerful than New Zealand’s White Island tragedy in 2019, which saw 22 tourists killed who had been visiting the location.
Emeritus Professor Richard Arculus from the Australian National University told the ABC the while the volcano had been “fairly active” in the last 15 years – this eruption was a “major vent-clearing explosion” where the explosion at sea surface “spreads somewhat laterally” and ultimately turns into a “shockwave ring”.
“This might not be over,” he said, adding the volcanic activity could last weeks or even months yet.
– with AFP
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