| Translate This News In |
|---|
According to the corporation in charge of repairs, a volcanic eruption near Tonga damaged an 80-kilometer (50-mile) piece of undersea cable, hampering efforts to re-connect the Pacific country after a month of digital darkness.
Tonga Cable Limited CEO James Panuve said a repair ship had identified the broken ends of the 840-kilometer cable that connected Tonga and Fiji and was cut in the storm on January 15.
Panuve said the ship discovered the eruption ripped an 80-kilometer section of cable into multiple pieces as it pummelling the seabed with the explosive force of a nuclear bomb, rather than a clean split.
“It is undeniable that the explosion, shockwaves, and tsunami wreaked damage underwater,” he stated on Tuesday.
Three people were killed when the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted, causing massive tsunamis and blanketing Tonga in deadly ash.
Poor communications have hampered disaster relief operations in the 100,000-strong island nation, with backup satellite links offering patchy access while the cable is being repaired.
Panuve said the cable repair ship “Reliance” was currently attempting to rescue portions of cable in waters up to 2.5 kilometres deep after dealing with bad weather last week.
According to him, the undersea blast shifted one section five kilometres and buried another under 30 centimetres of silt.
Despite the challenges, Panuve was optimistic that Tonga Cable would be able to rebuild the digital link by February 20, stating that plans were in the works to build a “mini-system” to bridge the 80-kilometer gap.
According to Panuve, a 55-kilometer-long length of cable is still missing on the seabed, and the ship is hunting for it in the hopes that it is still functional.
Tonga is struggling with a Covid-19 epidemic after remaining virus free for much of the pandemic, in addition to the destruction caused by the eruption and ensuing tsunamis.
The main island of Tongatapu and the outlying island of Vava’u are still under quarantine, with health officials reporting 139 cases worldwide on Tuesday.
Two Chinese naval warships delivered 1,300 tonnes of supplies this week, including 500 prefabricated dwellings, as international humanitarian relief continues to arrive.
