New Delhi: Two deaths have been confirmed in Tonga after an undersea volcano eupted off its coast on Sunday, triggering a tsunami that hit the group of islands hard.
Volcanic ash on an airport runway has prevented some flights from landing and is now delaying delivery of aid to the Pacific island nation, reports said.
A surveillance flight of the New Zealand defence force has just returned from the country. Some of the first images that have emerged from the volcano and tsunami-hit islands show widespread damage, The Guardian reported. Aerial photography of Nomuka island shows land and trees coated with ash, according to the report.
The satellite images analysed by the UN shows such scenes in Kolomotua, Tongatapu, and Fafaa Village, Kolofo’ou, the report said, adding that some buildings appear to have collapsed, with the entire landscape coated with grey ash.
The images show Fua’amotu International Airport runway inundated and also partly covered by ash or dirt. Some images also show flooded areas several blocks inside the coastline.
Aid Delivery Delayed
Meanwhile, the ash on the runway is delaying help to the ravaged islands.
The New Zealand military, which is sending drinking water and other supplies, said the ash on the runway will delay flights by at least a day, an AP report said.
Two navy ships from New Zealand will leave for Tonga Tuesday, the report said, adding that the neughbouring country has pledged an initial 1 million New Zealand dollars (USD 680,000).
Australia is also learnt to have sent a ship from Sydney to Brisbane as it prepares for a support mission, if needed.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that Tonga's government had reported "significant infrastructural damage".
He said: “There has been no contact from the Ha'apai Group of islands, and we are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands — Mango and Fonoi — following surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage.”
Satellite images had earlier captured the massive eruption of the undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano, 65km north of Tonga’s capital, showing a plume of ash, steam and gas rising above the South Pacific.
It is said to be the largest volcanic event in 30 years.
A sonic boom set off by the eruption could be heard as far away as Alaska in the US. About 2.7 feet high waves crashed into Tonga's shoreline, and the tsunami also caused minor damage from New Zealand to California.
Peru reported an oil spill as the waves moved a ship transferring oil at a refinery, reports said.