The volcanic eruption and then the tsunami that hit the Tonga Islands caused the rupture of a communication cable, isolating the archipelago from the rest of the world. So much so that even Elon Musk offers help from Starlink.
The images went around the world. The archipelago of Tonga, 170 islands and islets located in Polynesia, in the South Pacific Ocean, 744 km from the first neighboring country, has suffered two natural disasters in quick succession. On January 15, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano, located 65 km north of the main island of Tongatapu, erupted, triggering a tsunami that submerged the island state in part, including the capital Nuku’alofa.
The country then found itself cut off from the world due to the rupture of an undersea cable, interrupting all telephone and Internet communications. Although internal links were partially restored soon after, the cable linking Tonga to Fiji will require several weeks of repair. Tonga had to rely on satellite phone exchanges to ask for help. Several countries, including New Zealand and Australia, dispatched aid by sea.
Could people from Tonga let us know if it is important for SpaceX to send over Starlink terminals?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2022
Faced with the scale of the disaster and the difficulties of communication, Elon Musk also came forward. The CEO of SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) has offered to send Starlink internet terminals to Tonga pending the restoration of links. The billionaire was responding to an article from the news agency Reuters stipulating that communications would not be restored in the archipelago for at least a month. “It’s a difficult thing for us to do at the moment because we don’t have enough satellites with laser links and there are already geo satellites serving the Tonga region., said Elon Musk. That’s why I’m asking for a clear confirmation.”
After analysis, the submarine cable concerned would have been damaged in several places. A segment is also close to the volcano, which makes the intervention difficult. “US cable company SubCom says it will take at least four weeks for Tonga’s connection to be restored”, said the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs.