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Jan 18 5 tweets 2 min read
All the homes on one of Tonga's small outer islands were destroyed in the massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with three people so far confirmed dead, the government said in its first update since the disaster hit reut.rs/329JK9T 1/5
With communications severely hampered by an undersea cable being severed, information on the scale of the devastation after Saturday's eruption, causing waves up to 15 meters high, has so far mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft 2/5
But the office of Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said in a statement that every home on Mango island, where around 50 people live, had been destroyed, only two houses remained on Fonoifua, and Namuka island had suffered extensive damage 3/5
Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, earlier said pictures taken by the New Zealand Defence Force showed 'alarming' scenes of a village destroyed on Mango and buildings missing on Atata island, which is closest to the volcano 4/5
The U.N. said a distress signal was detected in the outlying Ha'apai islands, where Mango is located. Tsunami waves had hit the Ha’apia island group and the west coast of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu reut.rs/329JK9T 5/5

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More from @Reuters

Jan 20
A 57-year-old Tongan said he swam around 27 hours after getting swept out to sea during Saturday’s devastating tsunami. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano killed at least three people reut.rs/357yRGK 1/5 Image
The volcanic eruption sent waves rolling across the archipelago, damaging villages, resorts and many buildings and knocked out communications for the nation of about 105,000 people 2/5 Image
Lisala Folau, who lived on the small, isolated island of Atata which has a population of about 60 people, was swept out to sea when the waves hit land at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, he said in a radio interview to Tongan media agency Broadcom Broadcasting 3/5 Image
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Jan 19
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Jan 19
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Thousands of people in Hong Kong volunteered to adopt unwanted hamsters after a mass cull order from the government over COVID-19 fears raised alarm that panicky owners would abandon their pets reut.rs/3nGZt7X 1/5 Image
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Jan 19
Tonga sits at the junction of two major tectonic plates, the Pacific and Indo-Australian.

The Pacific Plate is pushed west and sinks back into the mantle along a 'subduction zone’ as it reaches the Indo-Australian Plate and the smaller Tonga Plate reut.rs/3fEu9SU
An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Jan. 15, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in Japan and causing large waves in several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes Image
Satellite images from Planet Labs on Jan. 7 showed volcanic gas escaping through the vent. On Jan. 15, about two hours before it erupted, the vent was predominantly underwater.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai lies about 65 km (40 miles) north of Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga Image
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for Novak Djokovic to compete at next year's #AusOpen despite the tennis superstar facing an automatic three-year ban from entering the country reut.rs/3KeO1dg ImageImage
On the first day of the #AusOpen, the world's best men's tennis player was taking selfies with fans at a Dubai airport arrivals gate instead of warming up for his first scheduled match on center court at Melbourne Park in front of thousands reut.rs/3fxoTAo Image
Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said there would be no exemption from France's new vaccine pass law reut.rs/3IcRWW9 Image
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