Samantha Moala recalls she was taking a shower at her home in Tonga when she heard what sounded like a gunshot so powerful it hurt her ears.
As she and her family scrambled to their car to drive inland, ash blackened the sky.
The world's biggest volcanic eruption in 30 years sent a tsunami around the globe, and the first waves washed across the road as Moala drove to safety at the airport with her terrified husband and two sons.
A volunteer with the Tonga Red Cross, Moala, 39, was soon attending to the cuts other people had suffered as they escaped and giving them psychological support.
She said about 50 of them stayed for two days at the airport until they got the all-clear to go back home.
“People were all shocked,” she said.
Source:
9 News