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Personal account of Ham radio operator AI6YR (Ben). Active during disasters. https://t.co/mIEFNOXlGg and (at)ai6yr(at)m(dot)ai6yr(dot)org over at the furry pachyderm.

Jan 17, 2022, 11 tweets

Kanokupolu #Tonga taken yesterday, 1/16/22 via Airbus SPOT #satellite. Post volcano/tsunami. High resolution image, this looks to me to be ashfall.

#Tonga taken by Airbus SPOT on 1/16/22. This is (was?) Ha'atafu Beach and Haatafu Beach Resort, but it seems to me that there are structures missing on this side (the resort appears to me to be missing, or extremely covered with ash). Possible tsunami scouring on the beach.

Reference image in Google vs. this acquisition -- you can see the big building on the top right in both images, but none of the structures you'd expect at Ha'atafu Beach, Nuku'alofa itself. #tonga #tsunami #volcano

#Tonga #volcano #tsunami Airbus SPOT imagery of Vakaloa Beach Resort on 1/16/22... which appears to have been wiped from the map. LDS ward at Ikalahi Rd and Hihifo Road seems intact, but ash covered.

So hard to tell what's going on here at the Vakaloa Beach Resort... maybe this is just completely covered in ash. You can see the outline of the wall on the left, and a line along the sand where the building is/was... could conceivably be completely covered in ash.

Atata Island #Tonga after the tsunami and volcano eruption. Airbus SPOT imaging on 1/16/22. This looks very grim. Largest structure in town survived, but awfully hard to conclude there was not catastrophic tsunami damage.

Atata Island #Tonga after the tsunami and volcano eruption. Airbus SPOT 1/16/22. Locatin of Royal Sunset Island Resort. You can see what looks like the larger structures still there on the tip of the island. Unclear how much standing though.

Interesting data--Vakaloa Resort apparently already suffered massive damage in 2020 from Cyclone Harold... unclear if they rebuilt it since then. So Google Maps may be obsolete as a comparison source.

Faa'amotu International Airport, terminal/hangar buildings taken between clouds on 1/16/22. Not much ash here (a little on the runway, but not much), you can see a few planes. #Tonga

Fua'amotu #Tonga taken yesterday 1/16/22 via Airbus SPOT. Looks like only minor ashfall on the south side of Nuku'alofa, based on the color of the roofs. Vegetation is still green. I suspect minimal damage on this part of the island.

Just to catch anyone from earlier in this thread, more imaging:

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