Tonga back online as undersea cable repaired

Internetconnection was restored inTongaon Tuesday, five weeks after a massive volcanic eruption shredded theunderseacablethat connects the Pacific nation with the rest of the world.

Telecom providers Digicel and TCC said data connectivity had been restored to two main islands, after breaks in an 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of thecablewere finally fixed.

Residents reported services were quickly comingbackonline, email seemed blazingly fast after 38 days in theinternetdoldrums and a slew of calls from family overseas were coming in -- their voices now heard loud and clear.

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"YES! TCC is restoring fibrecableinternetservices," the company said in a message to customers.

The January 15 eruption was so powerful it was heard as far away as Alaska and caused a tsunami that flooded coastlines around the Pacific.

It coveredTongawith ash and mangled an 80-kilometre stretch of theunderseacablethat proved more difficult than expected to fix.

Immediately after the disaster, contact withTongawas only possible via a handful of satellite links. Although some connectivity was later restored, connections were limited.

Digicel said "data connectivity had been restored" to two islands, after "multiple faults and breaks" wererepaired.

"We are delighted to see that our customers are connected to the outside world again," said DigicelTongachief executive Anthony Seuseu.

Earlier this monthTongaCableLimited chief executive James Panuve said a repair ship had located the severed ends of the 840 kilometre-longcablelinkingTongato Fiji that was cut in the blast.

Major havoc

But rather than a clean break, Panuve said the ship found the eruption tore an 80-kilometre section ofcableinto numerous pieces as it pummelled the seabed with the explosive force of a nuclear bomb.

"It is obvious that the eruption, shockwaves, (and) tsunami caused major havoc underwater," he said.

Panuve said that after contending with poor weather, thecablerepair ship "Reliance" had to retrieve sections ofcablein waters up to 2.5 kilometres deep.

He said one section had been moved five kilometres by theunderseablast and another was buried under 30 centimetres (a foot) of silt.

The eruption of the HungaTonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, which lies about65 kilometres north of the capital Nuku'alofa, killed three people.

According to UN agencies, the dual disaster also damaged 293 houses and displaced 1,525 people.

About85 per cent of the total population were affected by the disaster, with freshwater difficult to come by and arable land covered with six centimetres (two inches) of ash in some places.

DespiteTongareceiving aid under strict "no-contact" protocols, the international relief effort prompted a Covid-19 outbreak in the previously virus-free nation.