N anticipation of the country's needs, New Zealand has already sent two ships. Tonga is hoping for "almost contactless disaster relief" as a precaution, Greenwood said, acknowledging that this would complicate efforts but is also understandable amid the pandemic. It is not clear yet what assistance Tonga needs or wants from the international community, and complicating matters is the country's concern over the possible spread of COVID-19, which it has effectively kept outside its borders except for one case reported in a traveler from New Zealand in October. People clean up debris following the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, January 18, 2022.Ĭourtesy of Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting FM87.5/via REUTERS About two-thirds of its population lives on the island of Tongatapu, where the capital is located. Tonga, an archipelago of islands with about 105,000 residents, is located about 1,480 miles northeast of New Zealand in the South Pacific. "Most of the structures and dwellings on those islands have been completely destroyed." "Very unfortunate information has come to light overnight about the three islands that we were really worried about - that they have all suffered devastating consequences as an effect of these incoming waves," Greenwood told The Associated Press in an interview from Fiji. Marian Kupu/ Broadcom Broadcasting FM87.5 / REUTERS This screen shot from video taken by Marian Kupu of Broadcom Broadcasting FM87.5 shows damage in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on Janufollowing the volcanic eruption and tsunami. West Coast.Ĭommunications have been down throughout Tonga since the eruption, but a ship made it to the outlying islands of Nomuka, Mango and Fonoifua on Wednesday, and reported back that few homes remain standing after settlements were hit with 15-meter (49 feet) high waves, said Katie Greenwood, the head of delegation in the Pacific for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which had two people aboard the vessel to help assess the damage.Īfter days with little information getting out, photos have also begun to appear showing damage in the capital city, Nuku'alofa. The eruption was powerful enough to trigger a tsunami advisory for the U.S. Three of Tonga's smaller islands suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross said Wednesday, as a wider picture begins to emerge of the destruction caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific archipelago nation on Saturday.
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