Tonga

Digicel Tonga CEO, Anthony Seuseu, said; “We are thrilled to get internet connectivity back up in the Kingdom. Apart from our prepaid customers, we also managed to connect some business customers - ANZ, BSP and the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, Tonga Power, Lulutai Airlines, Air New Zealand and the Western Union.”

ANZ Bank Tonga’s Senior IT Support Officer, Maikolo Pifeleti thanked the Digicel team for their hard work and resilience during this difficult time.

The volcanic eruption and tsunami hit the island nation on Saturday, sweeping Atata local Lisala Folau out to sea.

Mr Folau told the BBC that he held on to a floating log during his 27-hour ordeal at sea, before finally reaching the shore again.

Tonga has confirmed three deaths though the extent of damage is still unknown.

Mr Folau, 57, told the BBC's Newsday programme he was scared when he saw the wave approach, but "I had my faith in God he would save me".

The service was restored following the set-up of a satellite link which had capacity limitations.

Digicel Regional CEO, Shally Jannif, said; “As soon as the link was opened up and international calls got restored last night, we saw an influx of callers as there were up to 200 simultaneous calls. We know that a lot of people tried to call their loved ones in Tonga but were having issues with connection. Today, our technical team did further upgrades on the link and we are pleased to announce that now 400 calls can be done at a time.”

They show the Pacific islands blanketed in a layer of volcanic ash, while in coastal areas the waves have torn down trees and ripped buildings apart.

Saturday's tsunami left at least three dead - including a British national - and crippled communications.

International phone links are said to have been restored but a severed undersea cable may take weeks to fix.

That means Tonga remains largely cut off from the outside world, with little known about the scale of destruction.

Our domestic network in Tongatapu is active and we are working to restore international connectivity. Digicel’s engineers and the technical team are working on the issues and hope to have them resolved in the shortest time possible.

Some of the islands' communications and power have now been restored, but the internet may be out for a while longer because of damage to an undersea cable.

After the eruption, Tonga's main island was blanketed in ash and its western coastline is said to be devastated.

"We're getting sketchy information, but it looks like the cable has been cut," the Southern Cross Cable Network's networks director Dean Veverka told the AFP news agency.

Puna said like the rest of the Forum family, he is shocked by the volcanic eruptions in Tonga.

“Even from the relative safety of Suva, we could feel and hear the eruptions which rocked the Kingdom and large parts of the region to its core.”

Puna said he is anxious about the safety and welfare of the people of Tonga and pledge the resources of the Pacific Islands Forum to Tonga.

He will try and speak with the Prime Minister once communications have been restored.

A tsunami has hit Tonga’s largest island Tongatapu, as a result, Digicel customers in the Kingdom of Tonga have experienced disruption in their mobile service. Digicel’s domestic mobile towers are in operation across Tongatapu.

A tsunami wave struck Tongatapu after locals were urged to seek higher ground.

It came shortly after locals in Tongatapu reported “deafening” sound of an eruption this afternoon. They also reported stones pouring down in Tongatapu.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

Kaniva News correspondent in Tonga Patimiosi Ngūngūtau shared a photo of sea waves flowing inland.

He described the deafening sound as “weird”.

“It was a rain of small black stones and black ashes”, he said.

He said they have evacuated to Liahona at the central south.

The tournament will determine which nation will represent Oceania in the FIFA intercontinental play-off in June 2022, from which the winner earns a spot at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ finals.  

A standalone match between the two lowest-ranked OFC nations, Tonga and the Cook Islands, will be held on March 13 to determine who qualifies through to join Group A and contest the preliminary competition. 

Group A, which will be made up of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti and the qualifying match winner, will have its first Match Day on March 17.