The government of Tonga announced Elon Musk’s SpaceX has donated 50 very-small-aperture terminals (VSAT) to help the South Pacific kingdom re-establish telecommunications connectivity with the world after underwater volcanic eruption and a tsunami on Jan. 15 severed its underwater fiber optic cable. What Happened According to a report from the Matangi Tonga Online news site,…
Tonga’s COVID-19 Cases Reach at Least 139, One Case Involves 5-Month-Old Infant
Tonga’s total COVID-19 cases reached at least 139 on Monday, with the youngest case involving a 5-month-old infant, local media reported, following the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in the tsunami-hit nation. Of those cases, 133 were from Tongatapu and six from Vava’u villages. Tongan health minister Saia Piukala said only one patient…
Tonga Goes Into Lockdown After 2 Local COVID-19 Cases Detected
Tonga’s government on Tuesday announced a nationwide lockdown after two community cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the Pacific island nation, which is still recovering from last month’s volcano eruption and tsunami. The two cases were detected after the Health Ministry tested 50 workers at the port of the capital Nuku’alofa, where humanitarian relief had…
Tonga Goes Into First-Ever Lockdown After Local COVID-19 Cases Detected
Tonga’s government on Tuesday announced a nationwide lockdown after two community cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the Pacific island nation, which is still recovering from last month’s volcano eruption and tsunami. The two cases were detected after the Health Ministry tested 50 workers at the port of the capital Nuku’alofa, where humanitarian relief had…
Magnitude 6.2 Earthquake Jolts Tsunami-Hit Tonga
Tonga was struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported, which came less than two weeks after the Pacific region was ravaged by an underwater volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami. The USGS data shows that the earthquake occurred at 6.40 a.m. and was centered 219 kilometers (136 miles)…
COVID-19 Infected Australian Ship Forced to Make Contactless Delivery of Much Needed Supplies to Tonga
Australia’s navy ship HMAS Adelaide, which has been hit with an outbreak of COVID-19, has arrived in Tonga on Wednesday to offload more humanitarian and medical supplies as the country recovers from a devastating volcano and tsunami disaster. As Tonga has no COVID-19 cases currently, the authorities have insisted that all foreign aid be delivered…
Australia Expands Relief Support to Tonga After Tsunami
The HMAS Adelaide has delivered helicopters and engineering equipment from Australia to Tonga to help with logistics and distribution of humanitarian and medical supplies after the Jan. 15 eruption of a volcano, and subsequent tsunami devastated the Pacific island country. Australia has sent 40 tonnes worth of relief supplies to Tonga, including shelter materials, water…
4 Japanese Planes Fly More Aid to Tonga After Volcanic Blast
CANBERRA, Australia—Four Japanese aircraft left Australia on Monday to deliver more vital aid to Tonga as the Pacific nation deals with the aftermath of a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The two Japanese Lockheed C-130 Hercules and two Kawasaki C-2 left the Royal Australian Air Force Base at Amberley in Queensland state to make the 3,300-kilometer…
Eyewitness: Volcano, Tsunami Devastate Tonga, Help Urgently Needed
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—In this edition of Indo-Pacific: Behind the Headlines we speak with Mr. Tevita Motulalo, a veteran journalist, security analyst and strategic communications consultant from the Kingdom of Tonga. Communications with Tonga have been largely cut off since a major volcanic eruption on 15 January broke the country’s underwater fiber optic cable and triggered a…
Eyewitness to Tonga Volcano, Tsunami: ‘It Was Almost Biblical’
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—In this edition of Indo-Pacific: Behind the Headlines we speak with Mr. Tevita Motulalo, a veteran journalist, security analyst and strategic communications consultant from the Kingdom of Tonga. Communications with Tonga have been largely cut off since a major volcanic eruption on 15 January broke the country’s underwater fiber optic cable and triggered a…
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