First images of the devastation in Tonga: the tsunami razed all the houses of an island and the death toll grows

El Gobierno de Tonga confirmó este martes la muerte de al menos tres personas por el devastador tsunami causado por una erupción volcánica en este archipiélago del Pacífico Sur, “un desastre sin precedentes”, según el Ejecutivo.

Communications are still cut in the island nation of the South Pacific, so it is complex to find the true number of victims.

En su primer comunicado oficial desde el desastre natural ocurrido el sábado, el Gobierno describe cómo la erupción del Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai provocó un tsunami con olas de hasta 15 metros de altura que golpearon varias islas del archipiélago.

The three confirmed fatalities are a British woman, a 65 -year -old woman from Mango Island and a 49 -year -old man from Nomuka Island.

El comunicado gubernamental, que se demoró por el corte de las comunicaciones en el archipiélago, describe cómo la catástrofe provocó la destrucción de todas las casas en la isla Mango, mientras que solo dos quedaron en pie en la isla Fonoifua, las dos más afectadas junto a la isla Nomuka.

The Executive has ordered the deployment of two military ships to bring humanitarian aid to some of the most affected areas in difficult conditions due to the destruction on the coast and dense ash layer that has covered this territory, consisting of 169 islands and inhabited by 105.000 people.

“El suministro de agua se ha visto gravemente afectado por la ceniza volcánica”, indicó el Gobierno.

Las imágenes aéreas tomadas este martes por vuelos de reconocimiento de las Fuerzas Aéreas de Nueva Zelanda mostraban un paisaje lunar, donde la ceniza cubre todo el terreno e importantes daños los edificios asentados en la isla de Tongacapu, donde se encuentra la capital, Nuku’alofa.

Other islands such as Uoleva, Nomuka and UIH.

In addition, satellite images show that the submarine volcano located north of the archipelago was submerged again and only two small lava islets emerge."What we saw above the sea, which was now razed, was only the tip of the volcano that emerged from a huge underwater structure," said expert Heather Handley, from Monash University.

Two ships from the New Zealand Navy today saved on humanitarian aid to Tonga, where they plan to arrive this Friday, while Australia has prepared another ship with emergency help, including 250.000 liters of drinking water and a desalination plant.

The Red Cross reported that it will send 2.516 Water and France containers, which has several territories in Polynesia, promised to send "urgent" help for the people of Tonga.

The main rescue agencies, which usually go with emergency humanitarian aid, have said they are paralyzed, without being able to contact their local staff."For the few updates we have, the magnitude of the devastation could be immense," said Katie Greenwood, of the Red Cross Regional Delegation.

The thunderous eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga ha’apai, which could be heard hundreds of kilometers away and was clearly seen from space, also caused the volcano to disappear from the marine surface.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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