After the massive eruption of Tonga's submarine volcano and the tsunami that triggered the tsunami, the Tonga government issued its first statement, saying that the country had suffered an "unprecedented disaster", with houses on individual islands completely destroyed and the country in a state of emergency. New Zealand's Foreign Ministry said the eruption caused Tonga's only submarine communications fibre optic cable to break and could take at least four weeks to repair.
Aerial images show Tonga covered in thick layers of volcanic ash
The Tonga government said in a statement on January 18 that it had killed three people and injured some others. Among the three dead were 1 female British citizen, while the other 2 were a 65-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man. The number of casualties is likely to increase.
The west coast of the main island of Tabu, where Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, is located, was badly damaged, and dozens of houses were also damaged. All houses on Mangao Island have been completely destroyed and a large number of buildings have disappeared on the nearby island of Atata.
The island of Tonga before the eruption
The island of Tonga after the volcanic eruption
Some of Tonga's islands are covered in thick layers of volcanic ash. The Tongan government said freshwater supplies were currently being severely affected; flights were temporarily suspended and sea transport routes were disrupted.
The British woman killed, Angela Glover, adopted stray animals in Tonga and worked in advertising in London before coming to Tonga. Her family said bitterly that Glover was swept away by a tsunami in order to save his adopted dog.
Glover, a British citizen killed
Electricity supply in the Tonga capital has been restored by 80%, but the Internet is still unavailable. A tsunami triggered by an undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga led to the destruction of the country's only submarine cable.
The submarine cable, operated by Tonga Cable Company, is 827 kilometres long and connects to Southern Cross's line network in Fiji. Previously, Kreich Slutz, head of marketing at Southern Cross, predicted that if all went well, it could take two weeks to fix the cable. The speed of repair depends on when a repair vessel arrives and when it starts operations.
However, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 19th that the repair contractor of the submarine cable believes that the cable connection in Tonga will take at least 4 weeks to repair.
The maintenance contractor is the American Submarine Communications Company, which is responsible for the repair of more than 50,000 kilometers of submarine cables in the South Pacific region, and is calling a ship for cable repair. According to reports, 99% of the world's international data transmission relies on about 280 submarine cables, which total millions of kilometers in length.
At present, Tonga has very little external communication and can only be carried out through a few satellite phones held mainly by foreign embassies in the capital. Satellite phone communications were also affected by the volcanic ash that diffuse the soup and the air. Digisel, an international mobile operator, said it temporarily provided limited 2G signals with the help of the University of the South Pacific's satellite infrastructure.
This is not the first time Tonga's only submarine cable has been damaged. In 2019, a severe weather caused accidental damage to cables, resulting in an almost complete disruption of mobile telecommunications and internet services for the island nation's 100,000 residents.
Amanda Watson, a researcher at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs, said the incident highlighted the importance of telecommunications and internet access in Pacific island countries, several of which have only one underwater cable. "It would be ideal if every country could have more than one cable."
Uncom officials said on the 19th that in order to prevent the introduction of the new coronavirus into Tonga, the assistance operation to it will be carried out remotely, and the aid workers may not land on the island of Tonga. Currently, there is no outbreak in Tonga.
Scene of the submarine volcano eruption on Hong Aha Apai Island
Tonga is located in the Pacific Ring volcanic seismic zone, and the submarine volcano of Hong Aha Apai Island erupted violently on the 14th and 15th. According to some experts' analysis, this may be the world's largest submarine volcanic eruption in 30 years, the scale of the tsunami it caused is huge, and the ash has different degrees of impact on the surrounding atmosphere, ocean currents, fresh water, agriculture and people's health, which needs to be further evaluated.
Nandu reporter Shi Minglei