Deadly tsunami hits South Pacific island of Tonga after huge undersea volcano erupts

A tsunami hit the South Pacific Island nation of Tonga after a huge undersea volcano erupted on Saturday. Satellite images showed the immense undersea eruption with a plume of ash, steam, and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific waters.

Tonga's Hunga Tonga volcano just had one of the most violent volcano eruptions ever captured on satellite. pic.twitter.com/M2D2j52gNn

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) January 15, 2022

The effects of the eruption made it all the way to San Diego, where beachgoers needed to be rescued from high waves.

New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage.

Tonga is reporting one death from the tsunami, but officials warn the danger is not over yet.

“We know for sure that there’ll be need for clean water because of the ash eruptions and which really I imagine (is) causing lots of troubles to the water supplies in Tonga as most of the people collect water through rain and this is something very dangerous for them to consume,” Deputy Head of Mission of the Tongan High Commission Curtis Tuihalangingie said. “So water, masks will be something, but I suppose we will receive all the priorities from Tonga soon.”

New Zealand hopes to send essential supplies, including much-needed drinking water, on a military transport plane Tuesday.

Communications with Tonga remained extremely limited. The company that owns the single underwater fiber-optic cable connecting the island nation to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks.

The loss of the cable leaves most Tongans unable to use the internet or make phone calls abroad. Those who have managed to get messages out described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began cleaning up from the tsunami waves and volcanic ash fall.

Tsunami waves of two to three feet crashed into Tonga’s shoreline. The waves crossed the Pacific, drowning two people in Peru and causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California.