(Eagle News) — No Filipino has so far been reported injured or killed in Tonga or Samoa after an underwater volcanic eruption that caused a tsunami in Tonga and prompted evacuation orders across the Pacific.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday, Jan. 19, this was based on an email from the Association of Filipinos in Tonga, Inc. that noted that all Filipinos had been accounted for.
The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Wellington is continuing to exhaust efforts to contact Filipinos in Tonga through an emergency satellite phone.
So far, it said, Internet and international calls are unavailable and that “indications” showed it might take two weeks before these are fully restored.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano southeast of Tonga’s Fonuafo’ou island erupted on Saturday, causing a tsunami on the island of Tongatapu, with waves recorded as high as 1.2 meters.
Tsunami warnings were issued in New Zealand, Japan and Peru, among other countries.