On 15 January, a massive eruption of submarine volcanoes in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga caused a cascading tsunami and volcanic ash disaster. Nasa's chief scientist pointed out that the power of the eruption is equivalent to up to 10 million tons of explosive yield, which is more than 600 times the power of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan in 1945.
Satellite image of the same port facility in the capital of Tonga before and after the eruption
This unprecedented disaster destroyed Tonga's submarine communications cables, leaving the affected population almost "isolated from the world". According to CCTV News reported on the 18th, Tonga Deputy Prime Minister Boasi Thai declared a state of emergency, and the country's communications are still in a state of interruption. At the same time, volcanic ash covering almost the entire Tonga Archipelago not only pollutes the drinking water of the population, but also limits and delays the assistance of the international community. In addition, the island nation's concern about the "new crown virus invasion" has made the rescue work even worse.
Tonga is running out of food and rescue is difficult
The aircraft cannot depart and the shipment takes at least 6-8 days
"This is probably the loudest eruption since the eruption of The Krakatoa Volcano in Indonesia in 1883." Michael Poland, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said the Tonga submarine volcanic eruption, which lasted less than an hour, had a "far greater than expected" impact, with loud explosions heard thousands of miles away in Alaska.
Scientists pointed out that the volcanic eruption is more powerful than the atomic bomb explosion
To measure the power of the eruption, scientists even used a scale to assess the explosive yield of nuclear weapons. NASA Chief Scientist James Gavin said: "The figure we calculated is about 10 million tons of explosive yield. This means that the power of the Tonga eruption is equivalent to the explosion of 10 million tons of yellow explosives (TNT), which is about equal to the power of the 667 atomic bombs of Hiroshima in Japan. After the eruption, Tonga almost "disappeared" from satellite imagery. The New Zealand Government's reconnaissance flights showed that volcanic ash had covered most of the country's homes and other buildings.
According to the statement of the Tonga government, from the morning of the 16th, search and rescue teams were sent to the disaster area where the houses were seriously damaged, and an evacuation center for residents was established on the main island of Tongatapu Island, and the residents of Mango Island used tarp as a shelter. Residents of the Tonga Islands face not only "homelessness", but also shortages of food, drinking water and other supplies. The large amount of volcanic ash not only "seriously affects" the supply of clean water sources, but also hinders the progress of "sea, land and air" transportation materials. Because of the volcanic ash and explosive debris covering the airport runway, it is difficult to quickly clear the aircraft that have been loaded with supplies and supplies. Australia's Pacific Affairs Minister Zede Sessella said: "The priority now is to get supplies to Tonga, and the biggest restriction at the moment is the airport, where there is still a lot of volcanic ash. ”
Tarpaulin tents became a temporary refuge on Mango Island
At the same time, the damage to the port terminals makes maritime transportation also face great challenges. Jonathan Vecchio, UN Coordinator for Pacific Affairs, said: "It has proved more difficult than expected to clean up volcanic ash. "Equipment capable of quickly cleaning up volcanic ash is being transported to Tonga by boat, but the process will take at least six to eight days. He added that the rescue vessels were also carrying much-needed food and drinking water in the disaster area, and "we heard that the food in the stores was almost sold out."
Damage to submarine communications cables has also hampered international rescue operations, and more than three days after the eruption, Tonga remains virtually "offline", relying on limited satellite phones to communicate with the outside world. According to CCTV News, Huawei Technologies Philippines, which is responsible for Tonga's business, said on the 18th that local communication operators are repairing communication facilities, and the focus of maintenance work is to restore satellite data services to help Tonga re-network and resume voice communications as soon as possible. Due to the damage of the Tonga submarine communication fiber optic cable in the volcanic eruption, it may be difficult to repair in the short term.
A few days after the eruption, Tonga remained virtually "isolated"
Samyora Funua, head of submarine cable repair contractor U.S. private company Subcom, said it was working with Tonga Cable Co. Ltd. but needed to assess the safety of the crew and vessel before moving the repair vessel. He added that maintenance personnel could only be allowed to travel by boat to the site of the cable break after the volcanic activity had stopped, and it would take at least four weeks for the repair to take place. New Zealand's Foreign Office said digicel, an international mobile phone network provider, had built a temporary system on the main island of Tongatapu on the main island of Tongatapu, using satellite dishes, but the connection system was not perfect and could only cover 10% of the connection capacity.
The "zero case" island nation fears that the rescue will bring the new crown
International community: "no contact" rescue will be carried out
In addition to volcanic ash coverage and disruptions in international communications, the island nation's fears of a "coronavirus invasion" have made international relief efforts worse. According to UN Coordinator Vichy, Tonga only reported a confirmed case of COVID-19 in October last year, one of the few countries that currently has no COVID-19 cases, and the country's population immunization coverage over the age of 12 has reached 90%, which will be a new "disaster" for the country if the rescue operation leads to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Tonga.
On Monday, local time, a New Zealand Defence Force aircraft flew over Tonga to reconnoiter the damage
The island nation's fear of the coronavirus stems from "centuries of invasion by foreign diseases." Beginning with the first landing in Tonga by British navigator Captain James Cook in 1773, epidemics such as measles, dysentery and influenza introduced by Europeans have nearly destroyed island communities in the South Pacific over the next century. A historical study found that in island nations such as Hawaii, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, measles alone in the early 19th century caused a quarter of deaths at all ages.
According to Felice Heda, a historian at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, a steamship called the Tarlune brought a new wave of "flu deaths" to Tonga in 1918. At that time, the ship was carrying 71 Spanish flu patients to Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, and the captain ordered everyone on board to "pretend they were not sick" in order to unload the cargo. Nearly 2,000 people died in Tonga from the ensuing influenza outbreak, a figure that accounted for about 8 per cent of Tonga's total population at the time.
A large amount of volcanic ash covers Tonga
On January 17, local time, Curtis Tuiharan kinji, deputy head of Tonga's mission to Australia, said Tongan officials had been discussing with the Australian and New Zealand governments and other relief partners how to provide assistance in a safer way, "we don't want to bring a second tsunami – the new crown." "The most important question has to be, how do we make one hundred percent sure we don't bring COVID-19 to this country?" Jonathan Pleke, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Loy Institute, an independent think tank in Sydney, noted that "if rescuers bring COVID-19 into Tonga, any good will that could be built through the response will be completely destroyed." ”
Any aid destined for Tonga would reportedly need to be quarantined for fears that relief supplies would bring the virus, and it was likely that foreign personnel would not be allowed to disembark. Subsequently, aid agencies, including the United Nations and the Red Cross, said they might not send aid workers to the country and were preparing to carry out "no-contact" rescue operations. Katie Greenwood, head of the Pacific office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said: "We will not send any personnel unless requested. ”
Red Star News reporter Wang Yalin Intern reporter Hu Yiling
Edited by Guo Yu
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