Tonga volcano: Concern for 8000 people in the Ha'apai group as communication lines still down

Sunday, 16 January 2022

Waves struck the Pacific Island kingdom after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano erupted.

There are growing concerns for at least 8000 people in the Ha’apai group of islands in Tonga, as communication lines were still down on Sunday, Pakilau Manase Lua says.

A tsunami hit Tonga after a massive eruption from an underwater volcano near the Pacific Island nation.

Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai, a volcano about 30 kilometres south-east of Fonuafo'ou island in Tonga, erupted about 5.30pm on Saturday evening, sending walls of water crashing through coastal homes and streets.

Waves generated by an eruption in Tonga have affected several Pacific island nations including New Zealand and Australia.

About 8000 people lived on Ha’apai, a group of about islands scattered on the westerly edge of Tonga, closest to the volcano.

One local captured the impact of the Tonga tsunami waves live, in a video they streamed on Facebook.

* Tonga communications likely to be limited for weeks in worst case scenario

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Lua said his contacts in Tonga say they have not heard anything at all from Ha’apai since Saturday, before the volcano erupted.

“That’s our biggest concern right now,” he said.

“Whether people are safe … the toxic fumes, breathing difficulties.”

Lua said people on Tonga were terrified throughout the night, with no idea of what was happening and if the volcano would erupt again or they faced more tsunamis.

Pakilau Manase Lua says there are growing concerns for about 8000 Tongans living in the Ha’apai group, near the erupted volcano.

“We haven’t heard of lives lost, there have been damages to property and things like that. Water shortage is a concern going forward because of contamination to the water catchments.

“This morning ash was still falling, a huge blanket over the whole island.”

It could take weeks to fully restore phone and internet connections to Tonga after its subsea communications cable to Fiji was cut by Saturday’s volcanic eruption or tsunami.

Tonga’s main communications link to the outside work is provided by the 872 kilometre Tonga Cable System.

Southern Cross Cable Network chief technical officer Dean Veverka told The Washington Post earlier that it didn’t know whether the cable had been cut or was “just suffering power loss”.

Ha’apai’s three most inhabited islands were Pangai, Tofua and Ha’ano, Lua said.

Following the eruption and the tsunami, Lua said there were reports that Atata Island had been completely submerged underwater.

“That’s probably the island that has the highest point in Ha’apai so if that’s submerged … we’re just hoping for the best right now.

“I know the Tongan Navy set out early this morning to Ha’apai so we should know more as the day progresses.”

Lua said the silver lining was that the tsunami hit during waking hours, “it would have been a lot worse if the tsunami came when people were sleeping”.