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The ash cloud of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano: Like a mushroom cloud
Photo: HANDOUT/AFP
According to experts, the eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai near the island nation of Tonga was the strongest in the world in 30 years.
The first data showed that there had not been such a violent eruption since Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, volcanologist Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland told Radio New Zealand on Monday.
According to the current state of knowledge, the eruption in the South Seas reached level 5 on the eight-level volcanic explosiveness index, in the case of the gigantic Pinatubo eruption it was level 6.
Had the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai erupted on land, the effects would have been "apocalyptic," Cronin said.
The eruption could even be heard in New Zealand, 2000 kilometers away
The submarine volcano, about 65 kilometers from Tonga's capital, erupted on two days in a row. While only small tsunami waves were registered after the first eruption on Friday, the second eruption was much more violent: the volcano had spewed ash, steam and gas kilometers high on Saturday. The water piled up around the volcano, and the effects of the eruption could be measured around the globe. The eruption could even be heard in New Zealand, 2000 kilometers away, and in Fiji. Fiji residents have been urged to cover water tanks and stay indoors in case of ash fall.
As a result of Saturday's eruption, tsunami waves spread across the Pacific Ocean, inundating areas in Peru, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia, among others.
In Japan, 200,000 people were evacuated on Sunday because the local meteorological authority had warned of waves up to three meters high.
In Peru, two people drowned on a beach in the high waves.
The ash plumes triggered by the eruption have now even reached Australia's east coast, said the weather service "Weather Watch New Zealand".
The cloud is moving west across Queensland and will cover much of the state during the day, it said.
Undersea cable cut, New Zealand sends relief supplies
The situation in Tonga remains unclear - particularly on some of the more remote islands that have not been contacted since the eruption.
The government there is sending out ships to explore the situation, Radio New Zealand reported on Monday.
Tonga has around 170 islands, 36 of which are uninhabited.
Because an important submarine cable was severed by the outbreak, the internet went down.
"It could take up to two weeks to fix it," Southern Cross Cable Network director Dean Veverka told AFP.
The nearest cable-laying ship is in Papua New Guinea, thousands of kilometers away.
"It's a terrible time but Nuku'alofa is still standing, electricity has been restored to many homes," New Zealand's High Commissioner in Tonga, Peter Lund, said on Facebook. The capital lies under a layer of volcanic ash. Cleanups should begin this week. A major danger is volcanic ash: it is toxic and can contaminate drinking water. "Most people don't know that the ash is poisonous and they have to wear a mask," said Australia's Deputy Tonga Commissioner, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie.
Owners of Ha'atafu Beach Resort, 21 kilometers west of the capital, wrote on Facebook that the resort was "completely destroyed."
A British woman is missing.
The woman was carried away by a wave trying to rescue her dogs, New Zealand television station TVNZ reported.
New Zealand plans to send a second Hercules aircraft to Tonga with important relief supplies.
If the runway in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, is damaged, the materials could also be jettisoned, Ardern told journalists on Monday.
"Flights conducted today will help us determine where the need is," Ardern said.
"We know that water is urgently needed and we hope that the Hercules can start today to meet this need." It is still unclear whether there were any deaths or injuries.
The submarine fire mountain has been active again since December.
It's unclear whether the recent eruption represents the peak of activity, Cronin said.
It could also be that the volcano remains restless for several weeks or even years.
has/dpa/AFP/Reuters
