Boats bashed into a quiet harbor in Southern California, a remote island in Japan was battered by 4-foot waves and two women were swept to their deaths on a beach in Peru — some 6,000 miles from an undersea volcanic eruption so powerful the tsunami it set off churned ocean waters halfway across the globe.
But as reports of the volcano’s effect trickled in from far-flung countries Sunday there was little word from Tonga, the island nation just 40 miles from the site of the extraordinary explosion. As concerns grew, the nation of about 100,000 remained largely cut off from the rest of world, its undersea internet cables knocked out of commission by the volcano.
Early videos captured islanders rushing to higher ground as the first powerful waves crashed ashore. Reports that emerged Sunday described a land rendered ghastly gray by volcanic debris, its waters poisoned by the ash sent tens of thousands of feet skyward when the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano erupted Saturday evening.