Flight to survey volcano’s damage in Tonga
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — This nation’s military was able to send a surveillance flight this morning to Tonga to assess the extent of the damage from a huge undersea volcanic eruption.
A towering ash cloud had prevented the military from launching flights earlier to the Pacific island nation.
People on Tonga described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began the task of cleaning up from the tsunami waves and the fall of ash caused by the eruption. Communications with Tonga remained limited after the internet was cut soon after the eruption Saturday evening.
There were no reports of injuries or deaths, although concerns remained for the fate of people on some of the smaller islands near the volcano.
Meanwhile, scientists said they didn’t think the eruption would have a significant effect on the Earth’s climate.
Huge volcanic eruptions can sometimes cause global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere. But in the case of the Tonga eruption, initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.02 degrees Fahrenheit global average cooling, said Alan Robock, a professor at Rutgers University.
Satellite images showed the spectacular eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific waters.
A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent pressure shock waves around the planet twice, altering atmospheric pressure that may have briefly helped clear out the fog in Seattle, according to the National Weather Service. Large waves were detected as far as the Caribbean because of pressure changes generated by the eruption.
In Tonga, it sent tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground.
With internet and phone lines down, friends and family members around the world were left anxiously trying to get in touch.
Government websites and other official sources remained without updates Sunday afternoon.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Sunday that there had not yet been any official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga but cautioned that authorities hadn’t yet made contact with some coastal areas and smaller islands.
“Communication with Tonga remains very limited. And I know that is causing a huge amount of anxiety for the Tongan community here,” Ardern said.
She said there had been significant damage to boats and shops along the Tongan coastline. The capital, Nuku’alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, Ardern said, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.
Aid agencies said thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
Ardern said New Zealand was unable to send a surveillance flight over Tonga on Sunday because the ash cloud was 63,000 feet high but that its effort today would be followed by supply planes and navy ships.
One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19. Ardern said New Zealand’s military staff were all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by Tonga.
Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin and that the spectacle was both “humbling and scary.”
The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and Santa Cruz, Calif., but did not appear to cause widespread damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.
Rachel Afeaki-taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety.
“We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter that he is “deeply concerned for the people of Tonga as they recover from the aftermath of a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The United States stands prepared to provide support to our Pacific neighbors.”