Tonga: First confirmed death after volcanic eruption

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Observation from a safe distance: The volcano Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai on January 13th

Photo: Tonga Geological Services / imago images/ZUMA Wire

After the volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga, there is a first confirmed death in the island nation.

A 50-year-old British woman who lived with her husband in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, was dragged into the sea by the tsunami wave, her brother told British media on Monday.

Previously, the death of two women in Peru, more than 10,000 kilometers away, had become known, drowning in unusually high waves.

Two days after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano, there is still a complete lack of clarity about the extent of the damage in the Pacific country.

Tonga was almost completely cut off from the outside world on Monday.

Phone lines are down because an undersea internet cable was damaged in the volcanic eruption.

So far, only fragmentary information from the Pacific country has reached the outside world via satellite telephone.

Australia and New Zealand sent the first reconnaissance planes on Monday.

According to initial reports, the west coast of Tonga may be severely affected by the volcanic eruption.

Waves from Tonga eruption cause oil spill in Peru

An oil spill has occurred off the coast of Peru in connection with the eruption.

The Peruvian Institute for Civil Protection said in a press release that oil leaked from a ship when it was being shaken by the strong waves.

Accordingly, it had just pumped oil into a refinery.

The government did not provide information on the amount of the spilled oil.

All she said was that local and state authorities are working to clean up the coast.

The volcanic eruption on Saturday was one of the heaviest in decades and was still measurable in faraway Alaska.

Ash and acid rain fell widely in the Pacific.

The eruption resulted in tsunami waves that could be felt on distant shores from Japan to the United States.

cop/AFP/AP