A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Sunday.
The eruption Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.
The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication lines down.
“The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku’alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore,” Ardern said after contact with the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.
“Nuku’alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable.”
However, there has been no word on damage in the outer islands and New Zealand will send an air force reconnaissance aircraft “as soon as atmospheric conditions allow,” the NZ Defense Force tweeted.
“We’re working hard to see how we can assist our Pacific neighbors after the volcanic eruption near Tonga.”
The United States was “deeply concerned for the people of Tonga,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, pledging support for the island nation.
A 1.2-meter wave swept ashore in the Tongan capital with locals reporting they had fled to higher ground, leaving behind flooded houses, some with structural damage, and with small stones and ash falling from the sky.
“It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,” resident Mere Taufa told the Stuff news website Saturday.
She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighboring house collapse.
“We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home. You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.”
Tonga’s King Tupou VI was reported to have been evacuated from the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa and taken by police convoy to a villa well away from the coastline.
Dramatic satellite images showed the long, rumbling eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano spew smoke and ash in the air, with a thunderous roar heard 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.
The eruption triggered tsunamis across the Pacific with waves of 1.74 meters (five and a half feet) measured in Chanaral, Chile, more than 10,000 kilometers away, and smaller waves seen along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico.
Waves of around 1.2 meters (four feet) hit along Japan’s Pacific coast.
By 0300 GMT Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said the threat from the eruption had passed.