Australia and New Zealand sent aircraft to assess the damage in Tonga after the eruption

Australia and New Zealand have sent military aircraft to Tonga to assess damage in this remote South Pacific country. It was caused by the violent eruption of Hongga Tonga Hung Hapai volcano underwater on Saturday, causing a tsunami.

He said in an email to F A spokeswoman for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

The authorities of Tonga, where electricity service has already been restored but remains cut off from the outside world in several parts of the territory, have also sent navy ships to the hinterland of this 169-island archipelago to assess the damage left by the eruption. and tsunami.

“In the coming hours and days we will have a clearer picture of the situation in Tonga, as well as the rest of the territory of the Blue Ocean.”Henri Bona, president of the Pacific Forum, said in a statement on Monday.

For its part, the New Zealand legislator Jenny Salsa, who is of Tongan descent, said she spoke last night with a group of Methodist ministers from her country, who told her that “one of the biggest problems they face is the damage to the aquifer system, and in fact, not everything” they have been able to protect Some of the water tanks in which they collect rain.”

There are 169 islands of which 26 are uninhabited and we have no information on which island.In an interview with Radio New Zealand on Monday, the legislator specified, referring to the situation in the remote archipelago in the South Pacific, where the number of casualties and victims remains unknown.

The thunderous eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai, an underwater volcano with a long history of activity located between two islands – sometimes joined by ash accumulating between them – can be heard hundreds of kilometers away.

Other neighboring countries in the Pacific Ocean such as Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa also recorded an onslaught of waves up to two meters in height and, after the warning was lifted, still maintained an emergency warning over coastal areas.

Unlike tsunamis caused by earthquakes, where tectonic plates discharge their force and a second tsunami is unlikely, a volcano can once again register a violent eruption that will create another fierce tidal wave.

The explosion and the tsunami that followed caused strong waves and floods as far away as Peru, where two women were killed by the strong waves.

(With information from EFE)

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