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World

Magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes Indonesia -EMSC

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Jan 10 (Reuters) – Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for almost three hours after a 7.6 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Tanimbar islands before 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday, but no significant changes in sea level were recorded, local media quoted an official as saying.

The powerful quake, locally measured as a magnitude 7.5, was at a depth of 130 km (80.78 miles), the country’s geophysics agency BMKG said.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) recorded the magnitude as 7.6, after initially reporting it as a magnitude 7.7. The U.S. Geological Survey also pegged it as a 7.6 magnitude.

Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB officials were checking for the extent of the quake’s impact, but early reports showed light to medium damage to buildings, its spokesperson said.

News website Liputan6.com reported houses in Saumlaki town in Yamdena island were badly damaged.

Reporting by Ananda Teresia in Jakarta and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler

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Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes northern California, leaves 2 dead, thousands without power

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RIO DELL, Calif., Dec 20 (Reuters) – A powerful magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the extreme northern coast of California before dawn on Tuesday, damaging homes, roads and water systems and leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity.

At least 11 people were reported injured, and two others died from “medical emergencies” that occurred during or just after the quake, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

The tremor, which struck at 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by about 80 aftershocks, was centered 215 miles (350 km) north of San Francisco offshore of Humboldt County, a largely rural area known for its redwood forests, local seafood, lumber industry and dairy farms.

The region also is known for relatively frequent seismic activity, although the latest quake appeared to cause more disruption than others in recent years.

Tuesday’s temblor set off one structure fire, which was quickly extinguished, and caused two other buildings to collapse, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

The department said its dispatchers fielded 70 emergency calls after the quake, including one report of a person left trapped who needed rescuing, spokesperson Tran Beyea said.

Details on quake-related casualties was sketchy, but one surviving victim was a child with a head injury and the other an older person with a broken hip, according to local media reports citing the sheriff’s office.

‘REALLY INTENSE’

Police closed a bridge crossing the Eel River into Ferndale, a picturesque town notable for its gingerbread-style Victorian storefronts and homes, after four large cracks were discovered in the span. The California Highway Patrol also said the roadway foundation there was at risk of sliding.

Authorities reported at least four other roads in Humboldt County closed due to earthquake damage, and a possible gas line rupture under investigation. One section of a roadway was reportedly sinking, the Highway Patrol said.

Ferndale and the adjacent towns of Fortuna and Rio Dell appeared hardest hit, with damage including water main breaks and about two dozen homes “red-tagged” because they were too unstable to be safely inhabited, state emergency services officials said.

[1/7] The collapsed second story porch of a house is seen after a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California, in Rio Dell, California, U.S. December 20, 2022. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

“The shaking was really intense,” said Daniel Holsapple, 33, a resident of nearby Arcata, who recounted grabbing his pet cat and running outside after he was jostled awake in pitch darkness by the motion of the house and an emergency alert from his cellphone.

“There was no seeing what was going on. It was just the sensation and that general low rumbling sound of the foundation of the whole house vibrating,” he said.

Janet Calderon, 32, who lives in the adjacent town of Eureka, said she was already awake and noticed her two cats seemed agitated moments before the quake struck, shaking her second-flood bedroom “really hard.”

“Everything on my desk fell over,” she said.

California’s earthquake early warning system appeared to have worked, sending electronic alerts to the mobile devices of some 3 million northern California residents 10 seconds before the first rumbles were felt, said state emergency chief Mark Ghilarducci.

While earthquakes producing noticeable shaking are routine in California, tremors at a magnitude 6.4 are less common and potentially dangerous, capable of causing partial building collapses or shifting structures off their foundations.

Tuesday’s temblor struck in a seismically active area where several tectonic plates converge on the sea floor about 2 miles offshore, an area that has produced about 40 quakes in the 6.0-7.0 range over the past century, said Cynthia Pridmore, a senior geologist for the California Geological Survey.

“So it is not unusual to have earthquakes of this size in this region,” she told a news conference.

Shaking from Tuesday’s quake, which occurred at the relatively shallow depth of 11.1 miles (17.9 km) was felt as far away as the San Francisco Bay area, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The biggest aftershock registered a magnitude 4.6.

Some 79,000 homes and businesses were without power in Ferndale and surrounding Humboldt County shortly after the quake, according to the electric grid tracking website PowerOutage.us.

PG&E crews were out assessing the utility’s gas and electric system for any damage and hazards, which could take several days, company spokesperson Karly Hernandez said.

Reporting by Nathan Frandino in Rio Dell, Calif.; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Calsbad, Calif; Rich McKay in Atlanta, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago, Laila Kearney in New York City and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter, Lisa Shumaker and Richard Chang

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World

Indonesia raises volcano warning to highest after Semeru erupts, evacuates 90 people

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JAKARTA, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities raised the warning on Semeru volcano on the island of Java to the highest level on Sunday after an eruption spewed a column of ash high into the air.

The evacuation of people, which includes children and seniors, living near the volcano in East Java province had also begun with 93 residents so far evacuated to shelters, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, BNPB said in a statement.

The plume from the volcano reached a height of 50,000 feet (15 km), said Japan’s Meteorology Agency, which was monitoring for the possibility of a tsunami there.

The eruption on the eastern part of Java, some 640 km (400 miles) east of the capital Jakarta, follows a series of earthquakes on the west of the island, including one last month that killed more than 300 people.

Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, PVMBG, raised the level of volcanic activity to IV from III, its chief said in a text message.

With the raised alert level, authorities warned residents not to conduct any activities within 8 km (5 miles) of Semeru’s eruption centre, adding hot ash clouds had reached as far as 11.8 miles (19km) from the centre of eruption.

PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan said the agency saw the potential for a bigger supply of magma this year compared to previous eruptions in 2021 and 2020.

“Therefore Semeru’s hot clouds could reach further (this year) and at that distance there are many residences,” he said.

Around the same time last year, the eruption of Semeru, Java’s tallest mountain, killed more than 50 people and left several missing, while thousands were displaced.

Some residents nearby have evacuated independently to safer buildings like mosques and schools, according to a statement from the regional government of Lumajang, where Semeru is located.

“Most of the roads have been closed since this morning. Now its raining volcanic ash and it has covered the view of the mountain,” Bayu Deny Alfianto, a local volunteer told Reuters by phone.

Small eruptions were continuing and it was raining in the area, he said.

The volcano began erupting at 2:46 a.m. (1946 GMT on Saturday), BNPB, said in a statement. Videos posted on social media showed grey ash clouds in nearby areas.

With 142 volcanoes, Indonesia has the largest population globally living in close range to a volcano, including 8.6 million within 10 km (6 miles).

The deadly late-November quake that hit West Java’s Cianjur was a shallow temblor of 5.6 magnitude. A much deeper quake on Saturday in Gurat of 6.1 magnitude sent people running from buildings but did not cause major damage.

Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Angie Teo in Jakarta; Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard and Lincoln Feast

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World

Children at school among 162 dead in Indonesia quake

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  • Death toll from 5.6-magnitude earthquake expect to rise
  • Dozens remain trapped in the rubble – officials
  • President

CIANJUR, Indonesia, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Children killed when their schools collapsed accounted for many of the 162 dead in an earthquake that devastated a town on Indonesia’s main island of Java, an official said on Tuesday, as rescuers raced to reach people trapped in rubble.

Hundreds of people were injured in the Monday quake and officials warned the death toll was likely to rise.

The shallow 5.6-magnitude quake struck in mountains in Indonesia’s most populous province of West Java, causing significant damage to the town of Cianjur and burying at least one village under a landslide.

Landslides and rough terrain were hampering rescue efforts, said Henri Alfiandi, head of National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

“The challenge is the affected area is spread out … On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged,” Alfiandi told a news conference, adding that more than 13,000 people had been evacuated.

“Most of the casualties are children, because at 1 p.m. they were still at school,” he said, referring to the time the quake hit.

Many of the fatalities resulted from people trapped under collapsed buildings, officials said.

President Joko Widodo flew in to Cianjur on Tuesday to encourage rescuers.

“My instruction is to prioritise evacuating victims that are still trapped under rubble,” said the president, who is known as Jokowi.

He offered his condolences to the victims and pledged emergency government support. Reconstruction should include earthquake-prone housing to protect against future disasters, he said.

Survivors gathered overnight in a Cianjur hospital parking lot. Some of the injured were treated in tents, others were hooked up to intravenous drips on the pavement as medical workers stitched up patients under torch light.

“Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child,” Cucu, a 48-year-old resident, told Reuters.

“Two of my kids survived, I dug them up … Two others I brought here, and one is still missing,” she said through tears.

[1/10] Indonesia rescue members evacuate people from the site of a landslide caused by the earthquake in Cugenang, Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia, November 22, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

Footage from Kompas TV showed people holding cardboard signs asking for food and shelter, with emergency supplies seemingly yet to reach them.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to help the rescue effort, Dedi Prasetyo, national police spokesperson told the Antara state news agency.

“Today’s main task order for personnel is to focus on evacuating victims,” he said.

‘SWEPT AWAY’

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said at least 162 people were killed, many of them children, while the toll from the national disaster agency (BNPB) stood at 103, with 31 missing.

Authorities were operating “under the assumption that the number of injured and death will rise”, the governor said, with at least one village buried by landslides triggered by the quake.

Cianjur police chief told Metro TV that 20 people had been evacuated from the district of Cugenang, most of whom had died, with residents reporting missing family members.

The area was hit by a landslide triggered by the quake that had blocked access to the area.

“At least six of my relatives are still unaccounted for, three adults and three children,” said Zainuddin, a resident of Cugenang.

“If it was just an earthquake only the houses would collapse, but this is worse because of the landslide. In this residential area there were eight houses, all of the which were buried and swept away.”

Rescue efforts were complicated by electricity outages in some areas, and more than 100 aftershocks.

Straddling the so-called “Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone where different plates on the earth’s crust meet, Indonesia has a history of devastating earthquakes.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people.

Reporting by Tommy Adriansyah and Ajeng Dinar Ulfina in Cianjur; and Gayatri Suroyo, Ananda Teresia, Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina Munthe in Jakarta; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies and Stephen Coates

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World

No tsunami warning for Solomon Islands after 7.0 earthquake off coast

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SYDNEY, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Authorities in the Solomon Islands said no tsunami warning would be issued after two earthquakes on Tuesday afternoon, including one with a magnitude of 7.0 just off the southwest coast.

The first quake hit at a depth of 15 km (9 miles), about 16 km (10 miles) southwest of the area of Malango, said the United States Geological Survey, which had initially put its magnitude at 7.3.

A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.0, struck nearby 30 minutes later.

The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service said there is no tsunami threat to the country, but warned about unusual sea currents in coastal areas.

“People are also advised to be vigilant as aftershocks are expected to continue,” an employee said on social media.

Widespread power outages are being reported across the island and the Solomon Islands Broadcasting said in a statement on Facebook that all radio services were off air.

The National Disaster Management Office said it has received reports that people felt the quake but are waiting for reports of damage.

“People in Honiara moved up to higher ground in the minutes after the earthquake but some have now moved down,” an official told Reuters by phone.

Seismology Fiji said the quake did not pose an immediate tsunami threat to the archipelago nation roughly 2,000 km to the southeast.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru;
Writing by Alasdair Pal and Lewis Jackson
Editing by Tom Hogue

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World

Indonesia quake kills scores, reduces homes to rubble, injuring hundreds

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CIANJUR, Indonesia, Nov 21 (Reuters) – A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds in Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday, with rescuers trying to reach survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks.

The epicentre was near the town of Cianjur in West Java, about 75 km (45 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, where some buildings shook and some offices were evacuated.

Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said 62 people had been killed. At least 25 people were trapped under collapsed buildings, it said.

BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said the search would continue through the night.

“So many buildings crumbled and shattered,” West Java governor Ridwan Kamil told reporters.

“There are residents trapped in isolated places … so we are under the assumption that the number of injured and deaths will rise with time.”

Indonesia straddles the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the Earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

The BNPB said more than 2,200 houses had been damaged and more than 5,300 people had been displaced.

[1/5] Medical workers treat the victims outside the district hospital after earthquake hit in Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia, November 21, 2022, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi via REUTERS

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Java island on Monday

Electricity was down and disrupting communications efforts, Herman Suherman, head of Cianjur’s government, said, adding that a landslide was blocking evacuations in one area.

Hundreds of victims were being treated in a hospital parking lot, some under an emergency tent. Elsewhere in Cianjur, residents huddled together on mats in open fields or in tents while buildings around them had been reduced almost entirely to rubble.

Officials were still working to determine the full extent of the damage caused by the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, according to the weather and geophysics agency (BMKG).

Vani, who was being treated at Cianjur main hospital, told MetroTV that the walls of her house collapsed during an aftershock.

“The walls and wardrobe just fell… Everything was flattened, I don’t even know the whereabouts of my mother and father,” she said.

Within two hours, 25 aftershocks had been recorded, BMKG said, adding there were concerns about more landslides in the event of heavy rain.

In Jakarta, some people evacuated offices in the central business district, while others reported buildings shaking and furniture moving, Reuters witnesses said.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline, more than half of them in Indonesia.

Reporting by Tommy Ardiansyah, Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana and Johan Purnomo in Cianjur, Ananda Teresia, Gayatri Suroyo, Fransiska Nangoy in Jakarta
Writing by Ed Davies and Kate Lamb; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Kim Coghill, Toby Chopra and Nick Macfie

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World

Major earthquake strikes Mexico on ‘cursed’ anniversary, at least one dead

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MEXICO CITY, Sept 19 (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday on the anniversary of two devastating temblors, killing at least one person, damaging buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling outside for safety.

One person was killed in the Pacific port of Manzanillo when a department store roof collapsed on them, the government said. Authorities also reported damage to several hospitals in the western state of Michoacan near the epicenter, which was in a sparsely populated part of Mexico. One person was injured by falling glass at one of the hospitals, the government said.

The magnitude 7.6 quake hit shortly after 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) near the western coast and close to the Michoacan border with the state of Colima – where Manzanillo is located, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

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The quake was relatively shallow, at only 15 km (9 miles) deep, which would have amplified its impact.

Reuters Graphics

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for parts of Mexico’s coast, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 meters (3 to 9 feet) above the tide level were possible.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as destructive quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

“It seems like a curse,” Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer in the city’s central Roma neighborhood, said of the quake’s timing as helicopters flew overhead, surveying the city.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the country’s most prestigious seats of higher learning, said there was no scientific explanation for three major quakes on the same day and attributed it to pure coincidence.

But others could not quite believe it.

“It’s this date. There’s something about the 19th,” said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. “The 19th is a day to be feared.”

Thousands of people were killed in the Sept. 19, 1985 earthquake and more than 350 died in the Sept. 19, 2017 quake.

Vehicles damaged by the collapse of the facade of a department store during an earthquake are pictured in Manzanillo, Mexico September 19, 2022. REUTERS/Jesus Lozoya

Many Mexicans reacted to the latest quake by posting an array of memes online venting their amazement. read more

Before first announcing the death in Manzanillo, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had said there was material damage near the epicenter. Images posted on social media showed buildings badly damaged.

Mexican authorities said the seismic alert had sounded nearly two minutes before the quake struck, giving residents time to evacuate their homes.

Still, some people in the capital struggled to grasp it was a real quake as the government had already sounded the alarm earlier in the day as a practice exercise commemorating the past earthquakes on the same day.

POWER OUT

In Coalcoman, Michoacan, not far from the epicenter, pictures showed shingles knocked off homes and building walls cracked by the force of the quake. In one store, merchandise was scattered across the floor.

Power was knocked out in parts of Roma in Mexico City, some 400 km (250 miles) from the epicenter. The national power utility said outages hit 1.2 million users.

Residents of Roma stood on the streets cradling pets, while tourists visiting a local market with a guide were visibly confused and upset. Traffic lights stopped working, and people clutched their phones, sending text messages or waiting for calls to get through.

Clara Ferri, who owns an Italian bookshop in Roma, said she told a customer to get out as soon as she heard the windows rattle, her senses attuned to the sounds of incipient earthquakes after 16 years in the location.

“It was like the dentist’s drill for me,” she said.

The rumbling grew in intensity, and as Ferri gathered with neighbors at an intersection, she looked up to see the eight-story building that houses her shop sway from side to side.

When she returned, shelves had toppled like dominos, sending over 1,000 books into heaps on the floor.

Officials roped off the sidewalk, which was littered with masonry that appeared to have fallen off the building. Residents trickled out with pets and suitcases, preparing to spend the night elsewhere, and a woman carefully escorted her 89-year-old uncle in his blue-and-white striped pajamas.

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Additional reporting by Isabel Woodford, Stefanie Eschenbacher, Anthony Esposito, Raul Cortes and Mexico City Newsroom; writing by Dave Graham; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman

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World

Strong earthquake hits southeastern Taiwan, 146 injured

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  • Train carriages derailed, four rescued from collapsed building
  • Tsunami warnings cancelled, chip foundries unaffected
  • More than 600 trapped by blocked mountain roads
  • Quake follows 6.4 magnitude tremor on Saturday

TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern part of Taiwan on Sunday, the island’s weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds on mountain roads.

The weather bureau said the epicentre was in Taitung county, and followed a 6.4 magnitude temblor on Saturday evening in the same area, which caused no casualties. read more

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Sunday’s quake at a magnitude 7.2 and at a depth of 10 km (six miles).

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Taiwan’s fire department said one person had died and 146 were injured by the quake.

All four people were rescued from a building that collapsed in Yuli, while three people whose vehicles fell off a damaged bridge were rescued and taken to hospital.

The Taiwan Railways Administration said six carriages came off the rails at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed, but the fire department said there were no injuries.

More than 600 people are trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas by blocked roads, though there were no injuries and rescuers were working to reopen the roads, the department said.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan after the tremor but later lifted the alert. Japan’s weather agency lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture.

The quake could be felt across Taiwan, the weather bureau said. Buildings shook briefly in the capital Taipei, and aftershocks have continued to jolt the island.

Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, said there was no impact on operations.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), , the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said there was “no known significant impact for now”.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.

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Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Sam Nussey and Anirudh Saligrama; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates

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World

Japan signals return to nuclear power to stabilise energy supply

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Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan July 14, 2022. Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

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TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Japan will restart more idled nuclear plants and look at developing next-generation reactors, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday, setting the stage for a major policy shift on nuclear energy a decade after the Fukushima disaster.

The comments from Kishida – who also said the government would look at extending the lifespan of existing reactors – highlight how the Ukraine crisis and soaring energy costs have forced both a change in public opinion and a policy rethink toward nuclear power.

Japan has kept most of its nuclear plants idled in the decade since a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Quake-prone Japan also said it would build no new reactors, so a change in that policy would be a stark turnaround.

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Kishida told reporters he had instructed officials to come up with concrete measures by the year end, including on “gaining the understanding of the public” on sustainable energy and nuclear power.

Government officials met on Wednesday to hammer out a plan for so-called “green transformation” aimed at retooling the world’s third-largest economy to meet environmental goals. Nuclear energy, which was deeply opposed by the public after the Fukushima crisis, is now seen by some in government as a component for such green transformation.

Public opinion has also shifted, as fuel prices have risen and an early and hot summer spurred calls for energy-saving.

“It is the first step towards the normalisation of Japan’s energy policy,” said Jun Arima, a project professor at the University of Tokyo’s graduate school of public policy.

Japan needs nuclear power because its grid is not connected to neighbouring countries, nor is it able to boost output of domestic fossil fuels, he said.

Last month the government said it hoped to restart more nuclear reactors in time to avert any power crunch over the winter.

As of late July, Japan had seven operating reactors, with three others offline due to maintenance. Many others are still going through a relicensing process under stricter safety standards imposed after Fukushima.

Kishida also said the government would look at extending the lifespan of existing reactors. Local media earlier reported this could be done by not including the time reactors remained offline – years in some cases – when calculating their operating time.

Under current regulations, Japan decommissions plants after a predetermined period, which in many cases is 60 years.

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Reporting by Mayuko Sakoda and Yoshifumi Takemoto; additional reporting by Mariko Katsumura, David Dolan and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Tom Hogue, Shri Navaratnam and Nick Macfie

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Water crisis looms for tsunami-hit Tonga; New Zealand help on the way

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  • New Zealand navy ships to arrive in Tonga on Friday
  • Airport could re-open on Thursday
  • Australian PM speaks to Tongan counterpart
  • Japan, US, China and Australia offer aid

Jan 19 (Reuters) – Two New Zealand navy vessels will arrive in Tonga on Friday carrying critical water supplies for the Pacific island nation reeling from a volcanic eruption and tsunami and largely cut off from the outside world.

Hundreds of homes in Tonga’s smaller outer islands have been destroyed, with at least three dead, after Saturday’s huge eruption triggered tsunami waves that rolled over the islands, home to 105,000 people. read more

With Tonga’s airport smothered by volcanic ash and communications hampered by the severing of an undersea cable, information on the scale of devastation has come mostly from reconnaissance aircraft.

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The Red Cross said its teams in Tonga had confirmed that salt water from the tsunami and volcanic ash were polluting the drinking water of tens of thousands of people.

“Securing access to safe drinking water is a critical immediate priority … as there is a mounting risk of diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea,” said Katie Greenwood of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

New Zealand said Tonga, one of the few countries to be free of the new coronavirus, had agreed to receive two of its ships, the Aotearoa and the Wellington, despite concerns about importing a COVID-19 outbreak that would exacerbate its crisis.

Simon Griffiths, captain of the Aotearoa, said his ship was carrying 250,000 litres of water, along with other supplies, and had the capacity to produce another 70,000 litres a day.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted about 40 miles (65 km) from the Tongan capital with a blast heard 2,300 km (1,400 miles) away in New Zealand, and sent tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean.

James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the force of the eruption was estimated to be the equivalent of five to 10 megatons of TNT, or more than 500 times that of the nuclear bomb the United States dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at the end of World War Two.

Waves reaching up to 15 metres (49 feet) hit the outer Ha’apia island group, destroying all the houses on the island of Mango, as well as the west coast of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu, where 56 houses were destroyed or seriously damaged, the prime minister’s office said.

ASH AND RUBBLE

HMNZS Aotearoa departs to provide disaster relief and assistance to Tonga after a volcanic eruption and tsunami, from Auckland, New Zealand, January 18, 2022, in this still image taken from video. New Zealand Defence Force/Handout via REUTERS

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Tongan communities abroad have posted images from families on Facebook, giving a glimpse of the devastation, with homes reduced to rubble, fallen trees, cracked roads and sidewalks and everything coated in grey ash.

Tonga has also been largely offline since the volcano damaged its sole undersea fibre-optic communication cable. Its owner said it would probably take a month or more to fix.

Telecommunications operator Digicel said it had restored some international phone service to Tonga through a satellite link, though numerous attempts by Reuters to get through were unsuccessful.

The archipelago has 176 islands, 36 of them inhabited. Its main airport, Fua’amotu International, was not damaged by the tsunami but was covered in ash, which has had to be cleared by hand.

A Tongan official said it might be possible for aid flights from New Zealand and Australia to begin on Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke with Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni.

He said two Hercules aircraft were ready to go with humanitarian supplies and telecommunications equipment, and that a naval ship, the Adelaide, was preparing to depart from Brisbane with water purification equipment and additional humanitarian supplies.

As well as emergency supplies, Australia and New Zealand have promised immediate financial assistance.

The U.S. Agency for International Development approved $100,000 in immediate assistance, and Japan said it would give more than $1 million in aid as well as drinking water and equipment to clear ash.

The Asian Development Bank was discussing with Tonga whether it would declare a state of emergency to draw on a $10-million disaster facility, senior bank official Emma Veve told Reuters.

China said it would send help including water and food when the airport opened.

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Reporting by Praveen Menon, Kirsty Needham, Tom Westbrook, Karen Lema, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Jane Wardell; writing by Robert Birsel; editing by Richard Pullin and Kevin Liffey

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