tsunami

Tongan eruption: 85% of the population impacted - government

Almost 85 percent of the country's population of about 105,000 people has been affected by last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami, the Tongan government said.

It shared more details about the impact of the twin disasters in a statement.

The death toll remains at three: those killed were Telai Tutu'ila, 65, from Mango Island, Lataimaumi Lauaki, 49, from Nomuka Island, and British woman Angela Glover, 50, who lived in Nuku'alofa.

Collection for Tonga underway today in Auckland

The Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee is organising the relief effort and plans to collect and ship food and emergency supplies donated mainly by people with family of those living in Tonga.

People can donate food and emergency supplies at Mt Smart stadium from 9am to 8pm on Friday and Saturday.

Priority will be given to people with family in Tonga, with each family being allocated a 44-gallon drum to send.

Items being asked for are non-perishable foods like rice, canned meat, as well as water, small cooking utensils, batteries and torches.

Tonga volcano: New images reveal scale of damage after tsunami

They show the Pacific islands blanketed in a layer of volcanic ash, while in coastal areas the waves have torn down trees and ripped buildings apart.

Saturday's tsunami left at least three dead - including a British national - and crippled communications.

International phone links are said to have been restored but a severed undersea cable may take weeks to fix.

That means Tonga remains largely cut off from the outside world, with little known about the scale of destruction.

Repairing Tonga cable no simple process - cable company

Tonga Cable Limited chairperson Samuiela Fonua said "There is really not much we can say until the ship pulls the cable up so it can be multiple breaks on the segment to Fiji.

"They are bringing a spare repeater (equipment) just in case the repeater is at fault as well. So far, the tests they run indicate the faults that we are reporting now. But there can be other faults on the line when they do the actual connectivity.

Tonga tsunami death toll rises to three

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano, which erupted on Saturday, was about 65km north of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa

There is now a huge clean-up operation in the town, which has been blanketed in thick volcanic dust.

Serious damage has been reported from the west coast of Tongatapu and a state of emergency has been declared.

Acting High Commissioner for New Zealand in Tonga Peter Lund told Tagata Pasifika he could see rubble, large rocks and damaged buildings, with serious damage along the west coast of Tongatapu.

Anxious wait for news after Tonga cut off

The underwater volcano erupted on Saturday, about 65km (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku'alofa.

The eruption, which was heard as far away as the US, caused waves higher than a metre to crash into Tonga.

Local authorities have not confirmed any deaths but communications are crippled, making it difficult to establish the scale of the destruction.

However, the brother of a British woman said she died after being swept away in the waves. Angela Glover, 50, was washed away while trying to save her dogs.

PIF reaches out to Tonga following devastation by volcano and tsunami

Puna said like the rest of the Forum family, he is shocked by the volcanic eruptions in Tonga.

“Even from the relative safety of Suva, we could feel and hear the eruptions which rocked the Kingdom and large parts of the region to its core.”

Puna said he is anxious about the safety and welfare of the people of Tonga and pledge the resources of the Pacific Islands Forum to Tonga.

He will try and speak with the Prime Minister once communications have been restored.

Tonga admits it's not well-equipped to deal with tsunami, relies on 'natural instincts'

A tsunami is the highest risk because of their closeness to the Tonga trench, says the Director of Tonga Meteorological Service, ‘Ofa Fa’anunu.

“That’s where our local tsunami generates comes from and it takes only between 15-20 minutes for waves to travel from the Tonga trench to our island,” he says.

A project to install 90 tsunami sirens has come to a halt since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Fa’anunu says they were hoping to finish the project last December however they are looking at it this year because swift action is very much needed.

Fears of new Indonesia tsunami as Anak Krakatau volcano seethes

On Saturday, giant waves crashed into coastal towns on the islands of Sumatra and Java, killing at least 222 people and injuring 843.

It is thought that volcanic activity set off undersea landslides which in turn generated the killer waves.

Anak Krakatau was erupting again on Sunday, spewing ash and smoke.

Video shot from a charter plane captured the magnitude of the event in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java.

President Joko Widodo has expressed his sorrow for the victims and urged people to be patient.

'Volcano tsunami' hits Indonesia after Krakatoa eruption

The country's disaster management agency says hundreds of buildings were damaged by Saturday's tsunami.

It says the possible cause of the tsunami was undersea landslides after the Krakatoa volcano erupted.

The strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra, connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The disaster management agency warned that the death toll after the tsunami, that struck at about 21:30 local time (14:30GMT) on Saturday, is likely to rise further.

Deaths have been reported in the Pandeglang, South Lampung and Serang regions.