The colour of pumice from the 2012 eruption of the Havre underwater volcano has revealed it must have erupted with huge force,possibly larger than the recent Tongan eruption.
As the ash clouds clear after the devastating volcanic eruption,engineers are scrambling to repair the critical single undersea cable linking Tonga with the world.
There has been a COVID-19 outbreak on the navy supply ship on route to Tonga,the coronavirus-free archipelago recovering from a volcano eruption and tsunami.
Lisala Folau,who is disabled,was swept out to sea from the small,isolated island of Atata,but made it to the main island of Tongatapu,about eight kilometres away.
The images,showing children among the debris,ash covering cars and homes ripped to the ground,come as HMAS Adelaide docks at Brisbane before heading to the battered island with supplies.
The Tongan government reported extensive damage to housing on outlying islands following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano.
Despite sitting almost on top of the volcano that erupted so violently on Saturday,Tonga appears to have avoided the widespread devastation that many initially feared.
The Tongan government released a statement saying three people had died so far from the eruption and tsunami.
While Tonga’s neighbours struggled to access information about what was happening on the ground,scientists,equipped with modern monitoring technology,saw the blast in real time.
The country has so far been free of the disease.
The people of Tonga witnessed a catastrophic event. We must hope there are no further eruptions.