Tonga volcano eruption, in addition to their own residents, New Zealand, Peru, Japan and other countries are the most affected.
Many countries have responded to an undersea volcanic eruption in the South Pacific that has wreaked havoc on the nearby kingdom of Tonga and triggered tsunami warnings in many parts of the Pacific Rim.
Tsunami was observed in many places in Japan and the United States, of which nearly 230,000 people in Japan needed to evacuate. New Zealand and Australia sent reconnaissance planes to Tonga to monitor and assess the extent of the damage.
The volcanic eruption has blanketed the Pacific island nation in volcanic ash, severely disrupting power supplies and communications, and a day after a tsunami hit the country, it still has not been able to restore communications with the outside world.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) told the BBC that up to 80,000 people in Tonga could be affected.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the tsunami had caused “significant damage”.
So far, no deaths have been reported.
However, the information on all aspects is still relatively small.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the embassy in Tonga has activated the emergency plan as soon as possible, and there are no reports of casualties among Chinese citizens.
Information from all parties shows that the disaster will cause heavy economic losses to the Kingdom of Tonga.
image source,Tonga Geological Services
The underwater volcano has been erupting for days, and this is the day before the eruption that caused the tsunami.
urgently needed assistance
The New Zealand Defence Force posted on Twitter that an aircraft had been dispatched to “assist the area and low-lying islands with a preliminary impact assessment”.
IFRC Fiji’s Katie Greenwood said there was an urgent need for assistance.
“We suspect that as many as 80,000 people in Tonga may have been affected by the outbreak itself or the tsunami and flooding caused by the outbreak,” she said.
“It’s a shock for people, we do have concerns for those outer islands and we really want to hear from people.”
The underwater volcano erupted again on Saturday (January 15), sending ash into the sky and triggering a 1.2-meter (4-foot) wave warning across Tonga. The explosion was so loud that it could be heard in New Zealand, some 2,383 kilometers (1,481 miles) away from Tonga.
Satellite imagery shows the scene of the volcano’s massive eruption
New Zealand’s acting high commissioner to Tonga, Peter Lund, said the island nation looked “like an image of the lunar surface” when covered in a layer of volcanic ash.
Ardern said on Sunday that volcanic ash had reportedly contaminated water supplies, making clean water an urgent need.
The ash situation has prompted authorities to tell people to drink bottled water and wear masks to protect their lungs, charity relief groups said.
The volcanic ash darkened the skies and video showed people driving away from lower-lying areas, causing traffic jams. A few hours later, Internet and phone lines in Tonga were cut off, leaving the country’s 105,000 residents virtually cut off from the outside world.
image source,Consulate of the Kingdom of Tonga
Pictures on social media show flooding in parts of Tonga.
The volcano had been erupting for several days before the largest eruption. The Tonga Meteorological Agency has warned that smells of sulphur and ammonia have been reported in some areas.
Ardern said power had been restored in some parts of the island and mobile phones were slowly returning to service. But the situation on the coast is unclear.
There is growing concern among many Tongans in Australia and New Zealand that they are unable to communicate with family and friends.
One of the people, Fatima, said she had not heard anything about a colleague who runs a seaside restaurant in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga.
“It’s very sad and we hope it’ll be all right,” she told the BBC. “It’s going to hit them hard, they’ve been in lockdown for so long, no tourists, and now it’s happening again.”
Satellite images show that some outlying islands have been completely covered by sea water.
Experts say the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption was one of the most violent in the region in decades.
It triggered tsunami warnings in several countries, including Japan and the United States. Flooding has already occurred along some coasts in California and Alaska.
British Foreign Office Secretary of State Zac Goldsmith called the situation in Tonga appalling, saying the UK “stands ready to help and support our Commonwealth friends in any way it can”.
Nearly 230,000 people have taken refuge in Japan
Japanese media reported that the tsunami had been observed in at least three areas in Japan since Saturday.
Tsunamis about 1 meter high were observed in Amami Oshima, Kuji Port in Iwate Prefecture, and Mibo City in Wakayama Prefecture.
“Nikkei Shimbun” quoted statistics from the Fire Department of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that a total of about 229,000 people in eight prefectures including Iwate, Miyagi and Kagoshima became the target of evacuation instructions.
Domestic traffic in Japan has also been affected, with reports that the JR railway line in Chiba Prefecture was partially suspended and more than 20 flights were cancelled.
Analysis: Satellite images show volcanic destructive power
BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos
Scientists got their first glimpse of the aftermath of the Hung Atanga-Hon Aha Apai volcano when the European Union’s Sentinel-1A satellite flew by on Saturday.
The spacecraft is a radar platform that is able to pass through clouds and dust to see the surface below.
The picture clearly shows the crater rim, outcropping at sea level, being destroyed – a testament to the strength of the eruption.
Researchers will be keen to understand what causes tsunamis, which not only cause huge waves on nearby islands, but also affect beaches across the Pacific Ocean.
To what extent can this be attributed to the volcanic eruption itself? Pressure waves can produce so-called “meteorological tsunamis”. Alternatively, the displacement of the sea could be the result of the partial collapse of the volcano that was not visible below the sea surface.
Data in the next days to weeks will provide more facts.