Tonga government says tsunami was ‘unprecedented disaster’

  • Drafting
  • BBC News World

news/240/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg.webp 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg.webp 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg.webp 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg.webp 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg.webp 800w" type="image/webp"/>news/240/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/EDB2/production/_122805806_475cf323-c30e-4cd8-8d60-ef6b479ca19d.jpg 800w" type="image/jpeg"/>

image source, European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2

Caption,

Satellite images show volcanic ash over the islands of Tonga.

In the first official update since a volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami in Tonga, the island nation’s government says it is facing an “unprecedented disaster”.

In a statement, the government confirmed three deaths: two locals and one British citizen.

He added that some of the smaller outlying islands were hit particularly hard, with all houses destroyed on one and only two standing on the other.

Dozens of houses on the main island of Tongatapu, where most of the country’s 100,000 people live, were also damaged.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.