Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the catastrophic volcanic eruption tomorrow, Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni spoke to RNZ Pacific’s Finau Fonua.

Hu’akavameiliku shared his experiences of the eruption and its aftermath, as well as some of the challenges left in the wake of the disaster.

Hu’akavameiliku was at home on January 15, 2022, when the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano exploded with a destructive power the world had not seen since the Krakatoa eruption of 1883.

Hu’akavameiliku was meeting with a local church community group when he heard what he had first thought was thunder. Within minutes he was notified of the volcano’s eruption.

Hu’akavameiliku recalls his first thoughts:

“It was scary. But at the same time, most of my time was just worrying about what’s happening, finding out what’s happening here, who’s affected, the scope of the problems and all that.

“But at the same time, we’re mindful that I’m there with my family, what will be the best course of action in terms of whether we are evacuating or staying home? But that’s what went through my mind.”

Communications cut off
For the next three days all communication services were down, and Tonga was effectively cut off from the world.

Hu’akavameiliku remembers sending people to determine the effects of the eruption in western Tonga, as well as boats to the islands who soon reported that tsunami waves were incoming.

It was later confirmed that three people had died in the disaster.

Although there was a need to determine exactly what had happened, that meant accessing satellite images of the eruption, which was not possible while communications were down.

Hu’akavameiliku explained how the priority remained with the affected people, both on Tongatapu and on the outlying islands.

“But those couple of days, it was more about finding out what’s happening and working out our response, making sure that families are safe, relocating some of the islands over down here. So that kept us busy, didn’t give us much time to worry about other stuff.”

Hu’akavameiliku expressed gratitude for the international assistance Tonga received in the wake of the disaster, particularly from New Zealand, Australia and its other Pacific neighbours. The food, drinking water and building materials received were vital for the survival of those most affected by the eruption.

Deserted islands
One year on from the cataclysmic eruption, the islands of Mango and ‘Atata are now deserted. Their populations have been completely evacuated and resettled in new communities, both on Tongatapu and ‘Eua.

Hu’akavameiliku said the decision to resettle the islanders was based on an understanding of how vulnerable their communities had become.

This relocation has been challenging for the people of Mango and ‘Atata: “Some of them are not used to where they are right now because they grew up in very small islands and now they are in Tongatapu or in ‘Eua, so helping them get hold of that and rebuilding their livelihood.

“The way they utilise will be different in the other islands than down here. So we are helping them. We adjust their way of life to the new environment they are in, that’s one of the biggest focuses, and on a higher level, the economics.

“We are reallocating some of the resources, we are just building not just houses but infrastructure.”

To mark the anniversary of the eruption an exhibition is being held. Hu’akavameiliku also noted that Tongans also reflected on the impact of the disaster through their strong spiritual communities.

“And, on the Sunday services, is to thank the Lord that we’re still here and to acknowledge our various partners. And we hope that things will keep getting better.”

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As Tonga’s recovery from the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami ramps up there is growing concern for the psychological and emotional wellbeing of survivors.

According to the government, 84 percent of the population has been impacted, with assessments of the widespread destruction still being conducted.

Two Tongans and a British national were killed during the disaster.

RNZ Pacific’s Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala said that while the recovery was building up steam a lot of people were still visibly shaken.

“For example near here, where there were homes in the waterfront that were destroyed, when you go over to inspect the place you see people that are just staring,” he said.

“With looks in their faces not only of disappointment, but it is a look of hurt,” he added.

French aid
A French Navy ship is to take relief supplies to Tonga following the volcanic eruption and tsunami.

The Red Cross in Noumea has readied 21 pallets which the patrol boat La Glorieuse will deliver to Nuku’alofa.

The 10 tonnes of goods include tents for about 100 families, hygiene kits, solar-powered lights as well as masks.

A coordinator, Vincent Lepley, has told the local broadcaster that as Tonga was covid-19 free, no staff would be sent.

He said the delivery would be made within the French partnership with New Zealand and Australia as well as Tonga’s Red Cross.

Help from Fiji on the way

The first contingent of 51 Fiji soldiers are still awaiting approval from the Tongan government to assist New Zealand and Australia in their relief efforts in the kingdom.

The Fijians arrived in Brisbane last Saturday to join Australia’s Defence Force deployment to Tonga.

Fiji army commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai said the group consisted of engineers, medics and other specialists.

He said they would carry out rehabilitation and further assessments in Tonga.

The Fiji military said the soldiers had completed covid-19 tests and isolation requirements before heading to Australia.

“Looking at the damage and the things that happened in Tonga so far, we are going engineer heavy so we taking a lot of plant operators, we are looking at construction workers, civil engineers and also medical staff. The rest are all part of the manpower that can assist these specialists’ engineers in the work they are doing,” he said.

Volunteers needed
Twelve shipping containers bound for Tonga have been fully packed with food and water by Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee volunteers.

Thirteen additional containers are being sent to Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium today.

The drop off points for the public remain closed as the hundreds of drums already onsite need loading.

Committee co-chair Jenny Salesa said volunteers worked until 10pm last night.

But she said more people power was needed for the final push today, with packers expected to work until midnight.

All volunteers must be fully vaccinated.

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A global aid effort is underway for Tonga with vessels en route to the Pacific kingdom from Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and the US as well as New Zealand.

NZ Defence Force Maritime Component Commander Commodore Garin Golding told RNZ Pacific nearby Fiji was also assisting in the relief efforts.

“Fiji is assisting Tonga, they are providing land forces which are going to be embarked on the Adelaide,” he said.

Three New Zealand Navy vessels have departed already and a second C-130 Hercules dropped aid off yesterday following the devastating undersea eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and tsunami on January 15.

The HMNZS Canterbury set sail for Tonga on Friday night, the latest to assist with the aid effort.

The ship has two NH90 helicopters, personnel and supplies onboard.

“On board the HMNZS Canterbury is water, milk powder and tarpaulins, but due to her size they have also embarked vehicles and forklifts which are needed to help distribute aid around the airport and port,” Commodore Golding said.

Engineer task force embarked
“We have also embarked an engineer task force and they can help purify water.”

The HMNZS Wellington and Aotearoa are already in Tonga.

Commodore Golding said the team onboard the Aotearoa had successfully offloaded five containers of stores and spent Saturday offloading bulk water supplies to be distributed across the island.

“They will be doing that today right through to early next week,” Golding said.

“The HMNZS Wellington sailed overnight [Friday], they received another survey task to the island ‘Eua which is the south east of Tongatapu, they will spend the whole day using their hydrographic and diving personnel just to verify that it is safe for shipping to go in and out.”

Wellington was set to return to Nuku’alofa to continue the survey task, with Aotearoa to stay alongside to continue to offload water supplies.

Australian efforts
The Royal Australian Navy is supporting the effort too, while HMNZS Adelaide is on its way.

“My understanding is, in addition to the three ships we will have, [the] Adelaide from Australia, the [Royal Navy ship HMS] Spey from the UK, and the US already has the Sampson [there] and a coast guard vessel is on its way down. I understand a Japanese vessel is on route. I have no information with respects to China,” Commodore Golding said.

The Tongan government has requested covid-19 measures be observed during the effort and Golding said that was a major focus of the team.

“We will be receiving tasks from the Tongan government and we will be responsive to whatever these tasks are.”

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Tagata Pasifika on the latest aid efforts for Tonga. Video: Tagata Pasifika

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The second day of a drive to receive emergency supplies in Aotearoa New Zealand to be sent to Tonga has started in Auckland this morning.

Hundreds queued for hours at Mount Smart Stadium in Penrose yesterday to deliver emergency goods that will be sent to their families in Tonga.

Almost six shipping containers were filled yesterday and organisers say at one point queues of more than 400 cars stretched three kilometres.

Aotearoa Tonga relief committee secretary Pakilau Manase Lua said it had been heartening to see the support and today was expected to see an even bigger turn out.

He said only vaccinated people can enter the stadium but donations from unvaccinated people can be dropped off at the stadium gates from 9am to 8pm.

Mepa Vuni said it was a long wait yesterday and many people had taken the day off work to make their deliveries for Tonga to the stadium.

“I haven’t spoken to my Mum since the eruption on Saturday. We are all doing this for the time being. We have been queing here for more than two hours. People have been queuing since 7 o’clock,” she said last evening.

Pasifika doctors ready
The Pasifika Medical Association is ready to mobilise the necessary support for Tonga, following the devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.

PMA’s Medical Assistance Team is ready to send an experienced and specialised team of doctors, nurses and technical support workers.

Watch today’s report on Tagata Pasifika. Video: Tagata Pasifika

The medical team has previously been deployed to Tonga to help with the measles outbreak and Cyclone Gita.

PMA chief executive Debbie Sorensen said they are prepared and are on standby.

She said the volcanic ash is a major concern for people with asthma or respiratory conditions, who will require extra health assistance.

Concerns about covid threat
Tonga’s Minister of Trade and Economic Development is reassuring the public there is minimal threat of covid-19 being imported into the kingdom via the international emergency response to last week’s volcanic eruption and tsunami.

Emergency assistance from the international community is ramping up with navy vessels and flights arriving into the kingdom from Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

Tonga has had a strict border closure in place since the start of the pandemic and has so far had no community transmission of covid.

Ulu’alo Po’uhila, editor and publisher of the Tongan newspaper Kakalu O Tonga, is in New Zealand and said he managed to speak with minister Viliame Latu and put to him concerns raised by the public about covid-19 protocols around the international relief effort.

“I was asking because there is a concern throug these [emergency] aid and these people going to Tonga it might take the virus, covid virus, to Tonga.

“And I was told that they, all they do is just, it is a contact-less delivery,” he said.

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King Tupou VI has offered sympathy and prayers to all those who lost relatives in last weekend’s Tongan volcano eruption and tsunami disaster or are still waiting for news about their families.

He said the whole of Tonga was devastated by the tsunami and it wiped out some of the islands, homes, plantations and possessions.

His Majesty’s first speech to address the nation following last week’s volcanic eruption has been delivered in Tongan in a video clip which was shared on Facebook last night as New Zealand and international aid programmes have stepped up.

The tsunami on Saturday killed three people and injured many. Waves of up to 15 metres flattened houses and caused extensive damage to Tongatapu’s western district.

It wiped out the islands of Mango, Fonoifua and ‘Atatā.

The king mentioned some biblical texts in his attempt to encourage his people to stand together to rebuild the nation.

“Let’s start with Jehovah as Jehovah is our refuge”, the king said referring to Psalm 91 of the Bible.

Facing new challenges
He said he could not say whether the natural disaster’s damage itself was less than the damage it caused to the environment and the evacuation of the people “as there was supreme over all in nature”.

“But it is astonishing, and I am grateful that the death toll was at a minimum,” the king said.

“While we feel and sympathise with immediate families and relatives of the deceased, we have been facing new challenges,” the king said.

He said the Armed Forces’ boats which transported people from the islands were affected by the pumice stones from the volcanic eruptions.

He said the people of ‘Eua valued their wharf more than their airport. And that was because that was what they mostly used for transportation and trade.

Standing together
“In times of trouble, people stand together so they could withstand the consequences,” the king said.

“It is not who have much money or assistance from overseas but the will of the people

“It is the determination to live on top of believing in God and show love, helping each other, have patience and be self-possessed”.

“In the aftermath of the disaster, we have to all stand up and work,” he said.

“It is our nation and the place where we grew up and it is only you and me who would treasure that”.

The king congratulated people from other countries and various partnerships, churches and businesses for helping Tonga.

Aid is coming from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. New Zealand’s Defence Force continues to coordinate with its partners.

New Zealand aid stepped up
HMNZS Aotearoa berthed today at Nuku’alofa port following successful wharf and harbour inspections conducted by Navy divers and hydrographers on board HMNZS Wellington.

Hydrographers were deployed to survey approaches to Nuku’alofa after the Wellington’s arrival, with Navy divers also conducting checks on the integrity of wharf infrastructure.

Once Aotearoa arrived, Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) stores, including bulk water supplies, were being offloaded as a priority and will undergo appropriate covid-19 sanitation by Tongan authorities.

Aotearoa is also able to provide continuous water supply while it is berthed.

HMNZS Canterbury was due to depart Devonport Naval Base tonight and is expected to arrive in Tonga early next week.

Supplies on board Canterbury include water, tarpaulins and milk powder. Vehicles and several containers of construction equipment are also on board.

Another C130 Hercules flight is also set to depart Auckland on Saturday with more stores on board.

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Specialist New Zealand Defence Force staff will be checking Tonga’s shipping lanes are passable and the wharf is safe so desperately needed humanitarian supplies can get through.

Three deaths have been confirmed after Saturday’s massive volcanic eruption. There are reports of significant injuries, but no details yet.

UN officials said 84,000 people – more than 80 percent of Tonga’s population — had been impacted by tsunami and the ashfall that followed the eruption.

New Zealand Defence Force Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour said there were fears for food security, with reports ash was killing crops.

Ash and sea water have also contaminated water supplies.

Offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington, which is carrying a helicopter, technical gear, and teams, has arrived in Tongan waters.

“They commenced clearing the outer part of the Nuku’alofa harbour and they’ll be working in towards the wharf area and terminal area,” Admiral Gilmour told RNZ Morning Report.

Scoping shipping channels
It will scope the shipping channels and wharves at the main port to see if they safe enough to use to drop off supplies, in time for HMNZS Aotearoa due today, which is carrying a range of stores including water, long life non-perishable foods, hygiene kits and shelter.

“Water is among the highest priorities for Tonga, and the Aotearoa can carry 250,000 litres, and produce 70,000 litres per day through a desalination plant,” Admiral Gilmour said.

“I feel that the most value that she’s going to provide today is bring able to discharge fresh water into water tanks for distribution around Tongatapu.”

Admiral Gilmour said staff did not need to set foot on Tonga at all, in an effort to avoid spreading covid-19 to the currently coronavirus-free country.

Sanitised containers will be moved by crane from the ship onto the dock or hauled by personnel in full PPE.

They will then withdraw and Tongans will pick up the goods.

Hundreds of people, including the Tongan Armed Forces, cleared ash off the international runway allowing a Defence Force Hercules to land yesterday afternoon.

Water containers, shelters
It carried the most urgently needed supplies including water containers, temporary shelters, generators, and communications equipment.

It was expected to be on the ground for about 90 minutes before returning to New Zealand.

The Hercules will be decontaminated today with a plan to head out again tomorrow, Gilmour said.

Admiral Gilmour said ash that was moved off the runway was sitting nearby and in a fine powder form. Some of this was picked up in the wind.

A Royal Australian Air Force C-17 also landed yesterday.

A third New Zealand Defence Force vessel, HMNZS Canterbury, is being prepared to be deployed this evening or on Saturday to arrive on Tuesday.

It is carrying two helicopters which can be used to distribute supplies and survey Tonga’s outer islands.

Self-sufficient force
The Defence Force intends to be self-sufficient to not put pressure on Tonga’s food, water and fuel supply.

It has enough stores to stay at sea for at least 30 days without any external assistance. If it stays that long plans will be made to resupply.

“We’re very mindful of the sensitivities about covid and its transmission. I’m 100 percent confident that none of our deployed forces have covid, they’ve all been PCR tested, at least double jabbed, some, if not many triple jabbed,” Admiral Gilmour said.

He said the NZDF respected Tonga’s decision whether or not to allow troops on the ground.

“If Tonga decides that they would like boots on the ground and our operators will be operating ashore, then will will do that and obviously still maintain a contactless approach delivering any assistance that is required.”

Australia’s high commissioner to Tonga Rachael Moore has described the loss of property as “catastrophic”.

“Along the western beaches there is a moonscape where once beautiful resorts and many, many homes stood,” Moore said.

Tonga has only just begun to re-establish global contact after five days cut off from the rest of the world.

Video scenes from Dr Viliami Uasike Latu, #Tonga Minister of Trade and Economic Development posted on FB. Just a snippet below. This is Hihifo side (Western side) of Tongatapu including Kanokupolu one of the badly hit villages. #Tonga #TongaVolcano #tongatsunami pic.twitter.com/d1zyXBwPo4

— Josephine Latu-Sanft (@JoLatuSanft) January 20, 2022

Mobile phone company Digicel has confirmed re-establishing communications between Tonga and the rest of the world, but lines have been clogged with heavy traffic, leaving many still unable to get through to loved ones.

Work to improve the satellite capacity and improve communications at the New Zealand High Commission in Nuku’alofa was being done Thursday evening.

Food and water woes
MP for Panmure-Ōtāhuhu and the co-chairperson of the Aotearoa-Tonga Relief Committee Jenny Salesa said Tongans in New Zealand were hearing from their families back home for food and bottled water.

“We’re also told by some of our relatives that the ash from the volcano is everywhere. A lot of the ash has now hardened like cement on some of the surfaces and cleaning up is a challenging task,” she said.

“Some of the worry is that it would also affect the crops and the traditional food sources that a lot of our Tongan people back home rely on.”

The relief committee is asking families from the most effected islands to head to the appeal at Mt Smart Stadium today. People from the rest of Tonga are asked to come from Sunday.

Each family being allocated a 44-gallon drum to send supplies to Tonga and eight containers have been given to the relief committee.

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A World Health Organisation representative in Tonga says the international airport has been cleared of volcanic ash which will allow humanitarian aid flights to arrive.

Hundreds of volunteers, workers and Tongan Defence Force personnel have been clearing the debris from the runway by hand.

WHO liaison officer in Tonga Dr Yutaro Setoya, who is in the capital Nuku’alofa on the main island Tongatapu, said there had been a thick layer of ash on the runway preventing planes from landing.

“The runway, I understand, was cleared to be able to be used from outside [the country]. I understand humanitarian flights are coming in,” Dr Setoya told RNZ by satellite phone.

A New Zealand Defence Force C-130 Hercules is on standby and will be able to to take off once the all clear has been given, bringing supplies of water, hygiene kits and other goods.

Two Australian Air Force Hercules are also ready to depart.

One of Tonga’s main communications providers, Digicel, said it had restored international calls to Tonga via satellite.

Undersea communications cable delay
But until the undersea communications cable is restored its network services will not be fully operational, it said.

It is expected to take at least a month to complete repairs on the cable that carries the bulk of internet and phone communications to Tonga.

Digicel Tonga is giving out free sim cards from Thursday morning, with the company saying it knows how desperate family and friends overseas are to connect with relatives.

Three people are confirmed to have died after Saturday’s massive volcanic eruption and tsunami.

Houses on the island of Mango in the Ha’apai group were destroyed, and the majority of structures on Atatā on Tongatapu, about 6km north Nuku’alofa, were all but wiped out by the tsunami.

There has been extensive damage to Fonoifua and Nomuka Islands. Evacuations of residents are underway.

Western parts of the main island of Tongatapu are also badly hit, with dozens of houses destroyed.

New Zealand Defence Force ships HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa are due to arrive in Tonga on Friday, carrying water and other immediate supplies, as well as engineers and helicopters.

‘Contactless’ aid
Their first task is to offload desperately needed water, but distributing supplies will be complicated by the need to maintain covid-19 protocols.

Tonga is free of the virus, and Tongan and New Zealand officials are still working out how foreign assistance can be done in a contactless way.

A second New Zealand Defence Force P3 Orion surveillance flight was carried out on Wednesday and also included Fiji’s southern Lau Islands, at the request of the government of Fiji.

The Tongan government has begun a huge cleanup operation in the capital.

Dr Setoya said Tonga needed access to emergency funding and immediate humanitarian supplies from overseas, but he believed most of the response to the devastating volcanic eruption could be handled domestically.

He said people affected by the volcanic eruption were resilient and strong and were helping others clean up.

“Tongan people are strong and very quick to react,” he said.

“People are cleaning ashes from the ground and the roof … hand in hand, cleaning the houses together. So I think there’s a good energy in Tonga.”

He said Tonga needed rain to wash away the ash.

“Because ash is everywhere and has to be washed away before we get clean water [from roofs] … many people depend on rain water in Tonga.”

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New images appear to show the majority of structures on the Tongan island of Atatā have been wiped out after a volcanic eruption and tsunami last weekend.

The Tongan government has so far confirmed three deaths from Saturday’s eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, and all houses on the island of Mango were also wiped out.

The New Zealand Defence Force has described the damage to the island of Atatā as “catastrophic” in its surveillance photo, which was posted online by a resort based there.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) also released an image of Atatā island on January 18, with an assessment that 72 structures had been damaged and the entire island covered in ash.

However, it noted it was a preliminary analysis and had not yet been validated on the ground.

The Royal Sunset Island resort posted on Facebook that all residents had now been evacuated to the mainland.

The resort was fully submerged by the tsunami and it was not expected there would be much left.

Other satellite imagery circulating online also appeared to show major damage on the island.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government today announced two naval ships with supplies had been approved for arrival in Tonga.

The ships were sent before an official request for help from the Tongan government, but the statement from Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta’s office this afternoon confirmed the vessels — expected to arrive by Friday, depending on weather — had been approved.

So hard to tell what’s going on here at the Vakaloa Beach Resort… maybe this is just completely covered in ash. You can see the outline of the wall on the left, and a line along the sand where the building is/was… could conceivably be completely covered in ash. pic.twitter.com/F3ZRwAkmTr

— AI6YR (@ai6yrham) January 17, 2022

The eruption was likely the world’s largest in the past three decades, and support and aid efforts have been stymied by communications outages after the blast.

US company SubCom expected repairs to the undersea cable, which carries most of Tonga’s communications, would take at least four weeks.

A mobile network was expected to be established using the University of South Pacific’s satellite dish today, though the connection would likely be limited and patchy.

Volcanic activity and tsunami risk continues to be monitored.

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Tongan communities in New Zealand feel relieved to hear official information from the government of Tonga for the first time since Saturday’s eruption and resulting tsunami.

The Office of Tonga’s Prime Minister was able to send initial detail of search and rescue efforts and early reports of damage to the Australia High Commission in Tonga, which was then shared with the world.

Tongan-born New Zealand MP Jenny Salesa said the first information about what was happening on the ground in Tonga was a relief but also upsetting.

“It is really heartbreaking. Just reading the first official statement as well as seeing the graphic images. Tonga hasn’t yet fully recovered from some of the cyclones. On top of a pandemic, there is now this twin force of natural disaster,” Salesa said.

She had been in touch with many Tongans in Aotearoa since the latest news arrived.

“There is actually a sense of relief that there doesn’t seem to be many more deaths reported. We know as of now, three fatalities have been reported to date. We of course still don’t know the extent of the damages on the ground.

Communication hope soon
“There is some hope though that communication will be up and running pretty soon.”

Salesa said it would take years for the nation to recover.

Evacuation of people on the islands of Mango and Fonoifua to Nomuka — as well as people being evacuated from the west coast of Tongatapu and the island of Atata to Tongatapu — has been underway since Sunday with confirmation there were no houses remaining on Mango and only two houses standing on Fonoifua.

The World Health Organisation confirmed the main hospital in Tongatapu was functioning.

The WHO representative in Tonga has been providing regular updates from Nuku’alofa via satellite phone to his counterpart Sean Casey in Fiji.

“The hospital in Tongatapu is functioning and there has not been an increase in presentations. The Tonga emergency medical assistance team went out on the ship with the navy to the Ha’apai group and are able to provide immediate assistance if required there,” Casey said.

The WHO was lending its only satellite phone to Tongan government officials to use as well, he said.

Church support
The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints in Tonga is providing shelter to many residents left homeless by Saturday’s tsunami.

LDS Church officials in New Zealand have maintained contact with their counterparts in Tonga via satellite phone.

Pacific area leader and member support manager Hatu Tiakia said the church was actively assisting people on the ground.

“On the first night, over a thousand people used our church school in liahona, but that’s just liahona. We have probably in excess of a hundred buildings or more that’s being used now by the community for shelter,” Tiakia said.

“They go there during the night to sleep because we have water in general for those facilities, and they return to their home to provide cleanup for their communities during the day.”

Tiakia also told RNZ Pacific that aid packages were being organised to be delivered to Tonga.

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The Tongan government has confirmed that all houses on the island of Mango were wiped out in the tsunami that followed Saturday’s volcanic eruption.

It confirmed that three people are now known to have died: a 65-year-old woman in Mango and a 49-year-old man in Nomuka, both in the outlying Ha’apai island group; as well as British national Angela Glover in Tongatapu.

The Tongan navy had deployed with health teams and water, food and tents to the Ha’apai islands.

One aerial image taken by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) showed Mango and described the damage there as “catastrophic”.

No houses, but just a few temporary tarpaulin shelters could be seen.

The Tongan government said Mango, Atata, and Fonoifua islands were being evacuated, and that water supplies in Tonga were seriously affected. It said all houses were destroyed on Mango Island, only two houses remained on Fonoifua and extensive damage occurred on Nomuka Island.

The government also said there were multiple injuries.

First official Tongan statement
It is the first official statement the kingdom has made about the disaster to international media.

The government said parts of the western side of Tongatapu, including Kanokupolu, were being evacuated after dozens of houses were damaged, and that in the central district many houses were damaged in Kolomotu’a and on the island of ‘Eua.

A diplomat, Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, earlier described the images taken by the NZDF reconnaissance flight as “alarming”, saying they showed numerous buildings missing on Atata island as well.

“People panic, people run and get injuries,” Tu’ihalangingie told Reuters. “Possibly there will be more deaths and we just pray that is not the case.”

With communications in the South Pacific island nation cut, the true extent of casualties is still not clear.

Glover, 50, was the first known death in the tsunami, swept away as she tried to rescue the dogs she cared for at a shelter.

Australia’s Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said conditions on other outer islands were “very tough, we understand, with many houses being destroyed in the tsunami”.

UN report of distress signal
The United Nations had earlier reported a distress signal was detected in Ha’apai, where Mango is located.

The Tongan navy reported the area was hit by waves estimated to be 5m-10m high, said the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Atata and Mango are between 50km and 70km from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2300km away in New Zealand when it erupted on Saturday.

Atata has a population of about 100 people and Mango about 50 people.

“It is very alarming to see the wave possibly went through Atata from one end to the other,” Tu’ihalangingie said.

Workers on airport runway
The NZDF images were posted unofficially on a Facebook site and confirmed by Tu’ihalangingie.

Taken from a P-3K2 Orion plane, they also showed workers on the runway clearing volcanic ash at Fua’amotu International Airport, the country’s main airfield.

One caption described the runway as “unserviceable” because of the layer of ash on it, meaning aircraft cannot land there.

It said the clearance operation was being done with shovels and wheelbarrows, and that “no heavy excavation machinery was observed”.

The Tongan government said wharves were also damaged in the eruption.

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Two New Zealand naval ships are being sent to Tonga to provide support, carrying fresh water, emergency provisions, and diving teams.

It comes as ashfall on the Nuku’alofa airport runway means one of the aircraft readied yesterday — a C-130 Hercules, to supply aid — would be unable to land.

The official death toll from Saturday’s eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and tsunami is two, but getting accurate information from the ground has been difficult.

In a statement this afternoon, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare said New Zealand was ready to assist.

The HMNZS Wellington would transport survey equipment and a helicopter, while HMNZS Aotearoa would transport 250,000 litres of water and is able to produce an extra 70,000 litres per day through salinisation, they said.

The journey is expected to take three days.

Mahuta said authorities had struggled with communications on the ground so decided to send aid before an official request.

“The delays mean we have taken the decision for both HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa to sail so they can respond quickly if called upon by the Tongan Government,” she said.

Henare said the ships would return to New Zealand if not required.

He said the survey and diving teams would be able to assess wharf infrastructure, and changes to the seabed in shipping channels and ports, to assure future delivery of aid and support from the sea.

The Hercules flight remains on standby with humanitarian aid and disaster relief stores including collapsible water containers, generators and hygiene kits.

Tonga is free of covid-19 and operates strict border controls, so all support is being offered in a contactless way.

The ministers’ statement said a further NZ$500,000 in humanitarian assistance had been allocated, bringing the total to $1 million.

Serious damage has been reported from the west coast of Tongatapu and a state of emergency has been declared.

Acting High Commissioner for New Zealand in Tonga Peter Lund told Tagata Pasifika he could see rubble, large rocks and damaged buildings, with serious damage along the west coast of Tongatapu.

“There is a huge clean-up operation underway, the town has been blanketed in a thick blanket of volcanic dust, but look they’re making progress… roads are being cleared,” he said.

A Briton among fatalities
UN Coordonator in the Pacific Jonathan Veitch said one of the fatalities was British national Angela Glover, who was reported by her family to have been killed by the tsunami.

Glover is thought to have died trying to rescue her dogs at the animal charity she ran.

Veitch told RNZ full information from some islands — such as the Ha’apai group — was not available.

“We know that the Tonga Navy has gone there and we expect to hear back soon.”

The communication situation was “absolutely terrible”.

NEWS? The NZ Government has released an update on New Zealand’s support to #Tonga ➡️https://t.co/01JrI41gNx#Force4NZ #NZAirForce pic.twitter.com/TeYAvdRJMR

— NZ Defence Force (@NZDefenceForce) January 18, 2022

“I have worked in a lot of emergencies but this is one of the hardest in terms of communicating and trying to get information from there. With the severing of the cable that comes from Fiji they’re just cut off completely,” he said.

“We’re relying 100 percent on satellite phones.

‘Bit of a struggle’
“We’ve been discussing with New Zealand and Australia and UN colleagues … and we hope to have this [cable] back up and running relatively soon, but it’s been a bit of a struggle.”

It had been “a lot more difficult” than regular operations, Veitch said.

One of the biggest concerns in the crisis was clean water, he said.

“I think one of the first things that can be done is if those aircraft or those ships that both New Zealand and Australia have offered can provide bottled drinking water. That’s a very small, short-term solution.

“We need to ensure that the desalination plants are functioning well and properly … and we need to send a lot of testing kits and other material over there so people can treat their own water, because as you know, the vast majority of the population in Tonga is reliant on rainwater.

“And with the ash as it currently is, it has been a bit acidic, so we’re not sure of the quality of the water right now.”

Access in ‘covid-free nation’
Another issue was access.

“Tonga is one of the few lucky countries in the world that hasn’t had covid … so we’ll have to operate rather remotely. So we’ll be supporting the government to do the implementation and then working very much through local organisations.”

For those in Tonga who were cut off, Veitch said the main message was “everybody is working day and night on this. We are putting our supplies together. We are ready to move.

“We have teams on the ground. We are coming up with cash and other supply solutions … so help is on its way”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. It corrects an earlier report on the death toll headlined “Tonga volcano tsunami death toll rises to three, reports UN”. The death toll stood at 2 as confirmed by MFAT.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Lack of backup satellite and cable links in the wake of Tonga’s volcanic eruption at the weekend reignites debate over the government’s plans to secure communications.

Communication with Tonga remains intermittent after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami severed the kingdom’s undersea cable connection with the rest of the world.

The crisis has renewed debate over previous government decisions which have been the subject of controversy and court cases.

It could be weeks before services are fully restored.

The 827km cable between Tonga and Fiji was cut when the volcano exploded. The break is located 37km from the capital, Nuku’alofa.

A cable connecting Tongatapu to other islands in the archipelago has been severed about 47km from Nuku’alofa.

A submarine cable repair ship is expected to sail from Papua New Guinea in the next few days.

Some communication with Tonga is possible via satellite. It is understood some people have been able to use the University of the South Pacific’s satellite connection to contact New Zealand from Ha’apai.

A New Zealand resident in Mangawhai, north of Auckland, has been in contact with his colleagues in Tonga via satellite text phone, 1News reported today.

However, Tonga Cable Ltd chair Samiuela Fonua said the lingering ash cloud was continuing to make even satellite phone calls abroad difficult.

Fonau said Tonga had been talking with New Zealand about establishing a second international fibreoptic cable, but any long-term solution was difficult.

The Kacific controversy
The government of the late prime minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva believed the best option was for Tonga to spend its money in building a satellite back up service.

The Pohiva government had made a 15-year deal with Kacific to establish a satellite backup link, but this was cancelled by the Tu’ionetoa government.

As Kaniva News reported in June last year, Kacific Broadband Satellites International Ltd provided emergency broadband services to Tonga when the undersea cable was severed by a ship’s anchor in 2019.

The Tongan government and its subsidiary Tonga Satellite Ltd later signed an agreement with Kacific for the supply of satellite broadband for a fee of US$5.76 million, which was due on June 15, 2019.

The fee was not paid and the company took Tonga to court in Singapore to enforce payment of the debt. The government then tried to take TSL off the kingdom’s company registry. This was overturned by the Tongan Supreme Court.

“We came to Tonga’s aid during its hour of need,” company CEO Christian Patouraux said at the time.

“It is deeply disappointing that Kacific has to undertake legal proceedings.

“The Tongan Government has benefited from millions of dollars of payments from international aid and infrastructure agencies to fund e-government initiatives and strengthen digital access over the last 10 years.”

The Hawaiki deal
The current Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni was at the centre of a controversial deal with internet provider Hawaiki when he was Minister of Environment and Communications.

Sovaleni signed a TOP$50 million (NZ$32.5 million) contract.

Tonga paid TOP$6 million (NZ$4 million) so that the Hawaiki cable connecting New Zealand and Australia to Hawai’i and Los Angeles was connected to the Vava’u fibre cable in Tonga.

However, in 2019 Tonga Cable Ltd (TCL) director Paula Piveni Piukala and Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tu’i Uata were sent to Auckland to seek advice on the deal.

Uata said TCL had questioned whether the large sums being paid from taxpayers’ money were justified.

Piukala said at the time it “did not make sense” to pay such a large amount of money just in case the cable might be damaged in the future.

Tonga also had an agreement with French company Alcatel for the provision of a fibreoptic cable system connecting Nuku’alofa and Vava’u with a branch to Ha’apai.

The World Bank
The World Bank has funded $50 million for Tonga’s high-speed internet cable which was launched in 2013.

Tonga asked the bank to also fund a back up, or redundancy, cable but the bank said it was not financially viable.

Kalino Latu is editor of Kaniva Tonga. Asia Pacific Report collaborates with Kaniva News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji’s Department of Mineral Resources needs time to liaise with a number of agencies before emergency warnings or alerts are issued, says acting Prime Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

He made the comment after being quizzed on the delay in issuing a tsunami warning in Fiji following the underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga on Saturday.

The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) issued a public advisory after 7pm on Saturday — two hours after the volcano erupted.

While many found out about the volcanic activity on social media, just as many thought the explosions were thunder.

Many living in coastal communities were also unaware the volcano was erupting — until tidal surges flooded their communities.

Sayed-Khaiyum said the Mineral Resources Department was in close contact with seismology experts in New Zealand.

He said the department was also in contact with various other international agencies for assessments, adding that it required very “sophisticated equipment to predict these things as to when it would occur”.

“It is not our ability to say that this will happen in the next hour and that is something the experts will tell us, so this is why it is critically important to keep the radio on as all messages as and when needed will be given on the radio,” he said.

Luke Nacei is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

It could be weeks before Tonga’s crucial undersea communications cable – which connects it to the world – is back online.

The cable carries nearly all digital information including the internet and phone communications in and out of Tonga.

It was damaged after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption nearby on Saturday.

Dean Veverka is director of the International Cable Protection Committee and chief technical officer for Southern Cross Cables — which owns two other cables in the area.

The Tongan cable, which is part-owned by the Tongan government, has broken about 37km off Tonga, he said.

The repair requires a ship which is currently in Papua New Guinea, about 2500 km away, so it could be a couple of weeks before the cable is back up and running.

“It’s very serious because the satellites can only handle … a small percentage of the traffic requirements out of any country.

“These days submarine cables carry about 99 percent of all communications between countries.

Limiting Tongan communications
“It will be quite limiting the communication to Tonga for a fair while.”

It could cost anywhere from US$250,000 upwards to repair, he said.

In the meantime, satellite communications appear to be disrupted by the massive ash cloud thrown up by the volcano.

NZ Joint Forces commander Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour told RNZ News on Monday the communication problems — likely from the ash– prevented pictures taken during the reconnaissance flight being sent back to New Zealand for analysis from the air.

It had to be done once the plane landed back in New Zealand last evening.

The Tonga cable connects into Suva in Fiji, and from there to the Southern Cross cable onto New Zealand, Australia and the US.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In the wake of a violent volcanic eruption in Tonga, much of the communication with residents on the islands remains at a standstill. In our modern, highly-connected world, more than 95 percent of global data transfer occurs along fibre-optic cables that criss-cross through the world’s oceans.

Breakage or interruption to this critical infrastructure can have catastrophic local, regional and even global consequences.

This is exactly what has happened in Tonga following Saturday’s volcano-tsunami disaster. But this isn’t the first time a natural disaster has cut off critical submarine cables, and it won’t be the last.

The video below shows the incredible spread of submarine cables around the planet – with more than 885,000 km of cable laid down since 1989. These cables cluster in narrow corridors and pass between so-called critical “choke points” which leave them vulnerable to a number of natural hazards including volcanic eruptions, underwater landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Animation of spread of global submarine cable network between 1989 and 2023. Video: ESRI

What exactly has happened in Tonga?
Tonga was only connected to the global submarine telecommunication network in the last decade. Its islands have been heavily reliant on this system as it is more stable than other technologies such as satellite and fixed infrastructure.

The situation in Tonga right now is still fluid, and certain details have yet to be confirmed — but it seems one or more volcanic processes (such as the tsunami, submarine landslide or other underwater currents) have snapped the 872km long fibreoptic cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world.

The cable system was not switched off or disconnected by the authorities.

This has had a massive impact. Tongans living in Australia and New Zealand cannot contact their loved ones to check on them. It has also made it difficult for Tongan government officials and emergency services to communicate with each other, and for local communities to determine aid and recovery needs.

Thank you all for the messages. No word from my Father or Family in Haapai. All communication in Tonga is out.
I have setup a fundraiser, link in bio for anyone wanting to help. Whilst I can’t assist family at this moment I will focus on country as more Information comes out. pic.twitter.com/1MCtnH5CNw

— Pita Taufatofua (@pitaTofua) January 15, 2022

Telecommunications are down, as are regular internet functions – and outages keep disrupting online services, making things worse.

Tonga is particularly vulnerable to this type of disruption as there is only one cable connecting the capital Nuku’alofa to Fiji, which is more than 800km away. No interisland cables exist.

It could be weeks before Tonga’s crucial undersea cable – which connects it to the world – is back online.https://t.co/5FmWdfJorc

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) January 17, 2022

Risks to submarine cables elsewhere
The events in Tonga once again highlight how fragile the global undersea cable network is and how quickly it can go offline. In 2009, I coauthored a study detailing the vulnerabilities of the submarine telecommunications network to a variety of natural hazard processes.

And nothing has changed since then.

Cables are laid in the shortest (that means cheapest) distance between two points on the Earth’s surface. They also have to be laid along particular geographic locations that allow easy placement, which is why many cables are clustered in choke points.

Some good examples of choke points include the Hawai’ian islands, the Suez Canal, Guam and the Sunda Strait in Indonesia. Inconveniently, these are also locations where major natural hazards tend to occur.

Once damaged it can takes days to weeks (or even longer) to repair broken cables, depending on the cable’s depth and how easily accessible it is. At times of crisis, such outages make it much harder for governments, emergency services and charities to engage in recovery efforts.

Many of these undersea cables pass close to or directly over active volcanoes, regions impacted by tropical cyclones and/or active earthquake zones.

In many ways, Australia is also very vulnerable (as is New Zealand and the rest of the world) since we are connected to the global cable network by a very small number of connection points, from just Sydney and Perth.

In regards to Sydney and the eastern seaboard of Australia, we know large underwater landslides have occurred off the coast of Sydney in the past. Future events could damage the critical portion of the network which links to us.

How do we manage risk going forward?
Given the vulnerability of the network, the first step to mitigating risk is to undertake research to quantify and evaluate the actual risk to submarine cables in particular places on the ocean floors and to different types of natural hazards.

For example, tropical cyclones (hurricanes/typhoons) occur regularly, but other disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen less often.

Currently, there is little publicly available data on the risk to the global submarine cable network. Once we know which cables are vulnerable, and to what sorts of hazards, we can then develop plans to reduce risk.

At the same time, governments and the telecommunication companies should find ways to diversify the way we communicate, such as by using more satellite-based systems and other technologies.

Dr Dale Dominey-Howes is professor of hazards and disaster risk sciences at the University of Sydney. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz