Cut off by volcano, Tongans relieved as contact restored

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — As the massive undersea Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday, Tongans from around the world gazed on as their relatives livestreamed images of the billowing clouds of ash, gas and steam emerged from beneath the depths. Then darkness. The eruption severed Tonga’s single fiber-optic cable, rendering the entire Pacific archipelago offline and unable to communicate with the rest of the world _ and leaving their loved ones terrified about what might have happened. Only on Thursday were many people able to get through to loved ones, as sporadic telephone connections were restored but it will be a long time before the video calls they’d come to rely upon during COVID lockdowns are possible again.