Category Archives: Tonga

Tonga volcano: drinking water is priority as aid begins to arrive for stricken nation

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The first aid vessels and flights have arrived and more are on their way as the devastated Pacific nation begins clean-up

Tonga’s government said drinking water was the priority as the clean-up continued a week after a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.

A national emergency team had already distributed 60,000 litres of water to residents, the government said on Saturday. A desalination plant on a New Zealand naval ship that arrived on Friday, capable of producing 70,000 litres a day, has started drawing seawater from Tonga’s harbour.

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Diary of a disaster: the week that Tonga went silent

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Seven days after a massive volcanic eruption that spawned a tsunami and ash cloud, communications are still largely down and the scale of the catastrophe unknown

It was the week Tonga disappeared.

Riveted by the shocking satellite images of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami, the eyes of the world turned to the South Pacific island country, home to about 100,000 people, on Saturday. But just as the world was desperate for news from Tonga, it went dark.

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‘I thought of God and my family’: Tongan survivor on spending 24 hours at sea – video

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Lisala Folau, a survivor of the Tonga tsunami, spoke on Friday of being swept to sea from the island of Atata. 'The scariest part of the ordeal for me was when the waves took me from land into the sea,' he told Sky News. The 57-year-old was swept away by a tsunami generated by a volcanic eruption on 15 January. 

Folau, a retired carpenter with a motion disability, managed to stay afloat for more than a day and make his way across the sea to the main island of Tongatapu. He said his faith in God and his family were the two things that occupied his thoughts while he was helpless at sea

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‘Absolutely amazing’: Tongan man swept away by tsunami stayed afloat for 24 hours

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Lisala Folau climbed a tree on his home island before being washed away and eventually managing to reach the capital

The story of a Tongan man washed away by the tsunami and who drifted and swam between islands for more than 24 hours has become one of the first to emerge from the island nation, five days after the disaster cut off communications between it and the rest of the world.

Lisala Folau, a retired disabled carpenter, told Tongan radio station Broadcom FM that he swam and floated from his island of Atata via two other uninhabited islands to eventually reach the main island of Tongatapu, a total distance of around 13 kilometres.

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Tonga: new footage shows aftermath of volcano eruption and tsunami – video

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Footage has emerged from Tonga showing buildings covered with ash, as well as damage to properties and infrastructure. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday evening, triggering tsunami waves of up to 15 metres. Water supplies were seriously affected by volcanic ash, according to the government

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Tongans in Australia fear the worst amid a void in communications after tsunami – video

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Members of the Tongan diaspora feared never seeing their loved ones on the Pacific island again when communications were cut off following the volcanic eruption on Saturday. 'I'm aware that other islanders, other Pacific people, other Tongans, all feel exactly my feeling. That's how close we are.' said Tongan-Australian artist and activist Seini Taumoepeau. She said she hasn't had any contact with relatives and friends in Tonga days after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami caused significant damage and cut off phone and internet lines for the archipelago.

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Tonga says volcanic eruption and tsunami an ‘unprecedented disaster’

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Government issues first official update since huge blast on Saturday, saying death toll could rise

Tonga is facing an “unprecedented disaster” from a massive volcanic eruption that covered the nation in ash and 15-metre tsunami waves that destroyed almost all the homes on two small islands, the government has said.

Hampered by a communications breakdown caused by the severing of a major undersea cable, authorities had not released an official update since the blast on Saturday, when the Pacific island nation was shaken by what may have been the largest volcanic event in three decades.

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Tonga’s volcano eruption: in pictures

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano eruption is thought to be the largest volcanic event in 30 years. Here are a selection of images of what we have seen so far


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Tonga volcano: first pictures after eruption show islands blanketed in ash, as two deaths confirmed

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Pictures from a New Zealand defence force surveillance flight and UN satellite images show land and trees coated in ash

Some of the first images have emerged from Tonga’s volcano and tsunami-hit islands, after a New Zealand defence force surveillance flight returned from the cut-off country, as two deaths from the disaster have been confirmed in Tonga.

Aerial photography of Nomuka, a small island in the southern part of the Haʻapai group, shows land and trees coated with ash and other damage inflicted by the huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami that hit the Pacific nation on Saturday.

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Tonga volcano: smoke and lightning seen before eruption that caused tsunami – video

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Australia and New Zealand have sent surveillance flights to Tonga after the eruption of an underwater volcano that triggered a tsunami. In dramatic footage, the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano could be seen erupting a day before, sending thick plumes of ash and smoke into the sky

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Tonga volcano: a visual guide to the eruption and its aftermath

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption – from explosion and tsunami alerts to a drifting veil of ash

Surveillance flights have been sent from Australia and New Zealand to assess damage after Tonga was isolated from the rest of the world following a volcanic eruption. Here’s how events have played out over the past few days.

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How the Tonga volcano has been felt around the world – video

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A large underwater volcano in Tonga has sent huge swells around the world affecting countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and large swells were seen in California and Japan but did not appear to cause any widespread damage. Two people have drowned off a beach in northern Peru, local authorities say, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas

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Two drown in Peru as abnormally big waves from Tonga volcano hit coast

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More than 20 Peruvian ports closed while TV images show seawater flooding homes and businesses in country’s centre and north

Two people have drowned off a beach in northern Peru, local authorities say, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas following Saturday’s eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga.

The deaths occurred on Saturday on a beach located in the Lambayeque region, Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defence (Indeci) said in a statement.

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Pacific tsunami damage unclear as volcano ash blankets Tonga

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Conditions hinder communications and surveillance of towns believed to have been inundated by waves

A thick blanket of ash from a huge undersea volcanic eruption has covered the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, contaminating water supplies, cutting off communications and preventing surveillance flights assessing the extent of damage from tsunami waves that are believed to have inundated entire towns.

Videos shared on social media after Saturday night’s eruption showed people running for higher ground as the metre-high floods hit coastal areas and made their way inland while the sky darkened with ash. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.

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Tsunami-hit Tonga faces communication challenges, says Jacinda Ardern – video

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The prime minister of New Zealand told a news conference on Sunday that contact had not been established with coastal areas beyond the capital, Nuku’alofa, after a tsunami hit Tonga following an underwater volcanic eruption. 

Ardern said the main undersea communications cable was affected, probably due to loss of power. She added that power was being restored in some areas on the islands and local mobile phones were slowly starting to work. The New Zealand high commission in Nuku’alofa said the tsunami had damaged boats, shops and other infrastructure.

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Australia live news update: Novak Djokovic federal court decision expected today; ‘difficult three weeks’ ahead for NSW amid Covid surge

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Government argues Serbian tennis star has become ‘icon’ for anti-vax groups as federal court adjourns; Victoria records 13 Covid-19 deaths and 28,128 new cases; Perrottet warns of ‘difficult three weeks’ as NSW records 20 deaths and 34,660 new cases; Queensland records three deaths and 17,445 new cases; ACT records two deaths and 1,316 cases. Follow all the day’s news here

In further Australian Covid news, the Morrison government has announced $24m in new funding to widen the use of telehealth for GPs and other specialists. The funding is a direct reaction to the infection rate from the Omicron outbreak. AAP reports:

The $24m will also cover the continued supply of personal protective equipment, such as masks, respirators, face shields and gowns for face-to-face consultations including patients that have tested positive through a rapid antigen test.

The latter aligns with national cabinet’s January 5 decision that RAT tests no longer need to be confirmed by a PCR test.

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Tsunami from Tonga volcano eruption leaves trail of flood damage

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Waves rush over island country while tidal surges are felt by small Pacific neighbours, New Zealand, Australia and US

Tsunami waves caused by an undersea volcano have flooded the Pacific Island country of Tonga, where entire towns have been inundated with water and scientists warn the main island could be blanketed in volcanic ash.

Videos shared on social media after the eruption showed people running for higher ground as the one metre high floods hit coastal areas and made their way farther inland while the sky darkened with ash.

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Tonga underwater volcanic eruption creates tsunami waves – video

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Tsunami waves caused by an underwater volcano have hit Tonga’s capital and the capital of American Samoa. The eruption at 0410 GMT on Friday of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano, located about 65km (40 miles) north of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, caused a 1.2-metre tsunami, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said

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Tsunami hits Tonga after underwater volcanic eruption

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Streets and buildings flooded in Pacific nation’s main island following latest eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai

People have been forced to flee their homes, and streets and buildings have flooded, as tsunami waves crashed into Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu, following a huge underwater volcano explosion.

The eruption at 0410 GMT on Friday of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano, located about 65km (40 miles) north of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, caused a 1.2-metre tsunami, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.

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‘It’s a mystery for us’: the puzzling death at sea of a Tongan fisheries observer

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Arnold Latu was found dead in his berth – one of numerous deaths of monitors who ensure fishing boats follow the rules

On the morning of Monday 27 September, a crew member on board the Hsinlong 1 fishing vessel went to fetch his friend Arnold Latu for breakfast.

Latu, in his mid-30s, was the monitoring officer of the Chinese-owned, Fiji-flagged vessel, employed by the Tongan government to check that the amount of fish caught on its three-week voyage was legal and correctly recorded.

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