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Australia says initial reports suggest no mass casualties in Tonga

Australia will send a surveillance flight Monday morning to assess the damage, as Pacific nations and aid agencies began coordinating relief efforts.

Agencies
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Wellington, New Zealand
Mon, January 17, 2022

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Australia says initial reports suggest no mass casualties in Tonga The eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga, which triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, is seen in an image from the NOAA GOES-West satellite taken at 05:00 GMT January 15, 2022. (Reuters/CIRA/NOAA)

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ustralian authorities on Monday said their initial reports suggested no mass casualties in Tonga after an underwater volcano triggered a tsunami, but added there was "significant damage" to roads and bridges in the Pacific island nation.

"At this stage, fortunately, we have no reports of any mass casualties, which is obviously very good news. But there is still very limited, if any, information coming from the outer islands," Zed Seselja, Minister for the Pacific, told broadcaster ABC.

Australia will send a surveillance flight Monday morning to assess the damage, as Pacific nations and aid agencies began coordinating relief efforts, Reuters reported.

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, but the full extent was unclear with communications still hampered Monday.

The eruption on Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The capital Nuku'alofa suffered "significant" damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda 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.

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