Tonga out of reach after huge undersea volcano eruption

The tsunami threat around the Pacific from a huge undersea volcanic eruption began to recede last night, but the massive ash cloud covering the tiny island nation of Tonga prevented surveillance flights from New Zealand to assess the extent of damage.

Satellite images showed the spectacular eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano, about 64 kilometers north of the capital Nuku'alofa, on Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.

Fluctuating air pressure caused by the shock waves was recorded in numerous districts in Hong Kong. But the observatory said the fluctuation did not pose a risk.

"There were large-scale volcanic eruptions in the past that had temporarily decreased global temperature," observatory director Cheng Cho-ming said.

Former observatory director said the speed of the shock waves was more than 1,000 kilometers an hour.

In Tonga, Home to about 105,000, the eruption sent tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground.

The eruption cut the internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world anxiously trying to get in touch to figure out if there were any injuries. Even government websites and other official sources remained without updates yesterday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there had not yet been any official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga, but cautioned that authorities had not yet made contact with some coastal areas and smaller islands.

"Communication with Tonga remains very limited," Ardern said.

She said there had been significant damage to boats and shops along the Tongan coastline. Nuku'alofa was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, Ardern said, contaminating water supplies. New Zealand was unable to send a surveillance flight over Tonga because the ash cloud was 19,000 meters high but it hoped to try again today, followed by supply planes and navy ships.

The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and Santa Cruz, California. It was estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake.

On Tonga, a Twitter user identified as Dr Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau said: "Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.''

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