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On the afternoon of the 19th local time, the reporter of the Central Radio and Television Station exclusively interviewed Louis Waterhouse, Consul General of Tonga in Sydney, to learn about the overall impact of the volcanic eruption and tsunami on Tonga. Due to the severe epidemic situation in Australia, the Consulate General of Tonga in Sydney is currently closed, and the interview is conducted online.
Louis Waterhouse told reporters that the situation in Tonga was very serious and may be the worst disaster recorded in Tonga's modern history. Volcanic eruptions occurred 65 km north of the capital of Tonga, spewing out ash and soot up to 20 km. Tsunamis triggered by volcanic eruptions are as high as 1 meter in the waves near the main island, and as high as 15 meters on islands and depressions closer to the volcano. The tsunami was so powerful that it was extremely destructive judging from the damage it caused to Tonga. In places where the tsunami waves are not very high, the general loss of the coast is within 50 meters of the coastline, of course, this also destroys many tourist attractions and affects the people living on the seashore.
Louis Waterhouse also said that the impact of volcanic ash is much more severe than that of tsunamis, which have a negative impact on both water and air quality, and cause serious pollution to Tonga. Looking at the comparative photos of Tonga before and after the eruption, it will be seen that in an instant, Tonga changed from green to gray, as if there was a lunar eclipse. The thickness of the ash reaches several centimeters, which means that the airport is generally unusable, as the airslide is completely covered with thick volcanic ash. There is no mechanical cleaning equipment in Tonga and all cleaning work is done by hand. So even if the cleanup team has more than 20 people, it will find that the workload is amazing.
△ Image of January 9, 2021 local time (top) and panoramic image of the volcano after the eruption on January 17, 2022 (bottom)
(Reporter Wang Cong)
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