Tonga Struggles with Ash, Psychological Trauma after Eruption and Tsunami

A satellite image shows Mango islands after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption, in Tonga, January 20, 2022. Satellite Image @2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters
A satellite image shows Mango islands after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption, in Tonga, January 20, 2022. Satellite Image @2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters
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Tonga Struggles with Ash, Psychological Trauma after Eruption and Tsunami

A satellite image shows Mango islands after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption, in Tonga, January 20, 2022. Satellite Image @2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters
A satellite image shows Mango islands after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption, in Tonga, January 20, 2022. Satellite Image @2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters

Families have stopped children playing outside as Tonga struggles to deal with ash and the psychological fallout of last week's volcanic eruption and tsunami, aid workers and residents said.

Communication with the outside world remained difficult on Sunday, with few internet services, and outlying islands still cut off from the phone service.

The Red Cross said it was providing not only tents, food, water and toilets to 173 households on Tonga's main island, but also comfort.

"Everyone is still struggling right now," said Drew Havea, the vice president of Tonga Red Cross. Because of the ash, "families are making sure their kids are not playing outside, that they are all indoors", he said.

Although some residents from the worst affected outlying islands in Ha'apai had been evacuated to the main island Tongatapu, others were refusing to leave, Havea said.

The psychological impact of waves rushing through and destroying villages will affect their lives for some time, he said.

There was another worry shared by many in Tonga, he said.

"Every kid grew up, in your geography lesson you were taught this is the Ring of Fire where we are all living. Now I think that we are quite concerned and start thinking, 'How active are these places?" he told Reuters.

The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kms (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand.

The eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound.

'Pulsating, terrifying'

"I thought the world was coming to an end," recalled John Tukuafu, owner of the Vakaloa beach resort, who had to rush to rescue his wife from the tsunami. The resort was in Kanokupolu, one of the worst hit areas on Tongatapu, and uprooted trees and debris now lie in the area where the resort stood.

"I think the whole island, we are in shock," Mary Lyn Fonua, the managing editor of news website Matangi Tonga Online, told Reuters on Sunday.

It had taken a week for many people to recover from the "pulsating, terrifying" sound of the eruption, she said.

"It was too loud to hear but I could feel it. The house was vibrating, windows were vibrating and it became more and more intense until the big bang," she told Reuters by telephone on Sunday.

Residents were wishing for tropical rain to wash off the "awful and itchy" volcanic dust, said Fonua. Leaves on trees had turned brown and were falling off.

Fonua said she was in her seafront office talking on the phone to her son in New Zealand when the tsunami struck.

When the line went dead, he feared she had been swept away. The anxiety of many Tongan families overseas was prolonged in the days it took for limited international call capacity to be restored.

Cut off from the world, Tongans got on with immediate rescue efforts, Fonua said.

Older Tongans with a tradition of self-reliance remarked that young people had been forced to stop looking at their smart phones and had leapt into action, she said.

With power restored after a week, the Matangi Tonga website posted its first story on Saturday since the eruption and tsunami, describing the "pumice rain", as volcanic debris fell from the sky, and waves that engulfed cars.

Still, her office cannot send email and Tonga needs more satellite capacity, Fonua said.

The international navy ships and flights arriving had brought much needed supplies and communication equipment, she said.



German Chancellor Says European Leaders and Zelenskyy Had ‘Constructive’ Meeting with Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with US President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with US President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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German Chancellor Says European Leaders and Zelenskyy Had ‘Constructive’ Meeting with Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with US President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with US President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. (Reuters)

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a “constructive” discussion with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, two days ahead of Trump’s planned meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. 

Speaking alongside Zelenskyy, Merz said after the videoconference that “important decisions” could be made in Anchorage, but stressed that “fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected” at the meeting. 

Merz convened the virtual meetings in an attempt to make sure European and Ukraine’s leaders are heard ahead of the summit, where Trump and Putin are expected to discuss a path toward ending Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy and the Europeans have been sidelined from that summit. German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said the intention of Wednesday's meetings was to “make clear the position of the Europeans.” 

Zelenskyy is due to meet with European leaders first, in preparation for a virtual call with Trump and Vice President JD Vance about an hour later. A call among leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — will take place last. 

The Ukrainian leader on Wednesday said his government has had over 30 conversations with partners ahead of the summit in Alaska, but reiterated his doubt that Putin would negotiate in good faith. 

Writing on his official Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said there was “currently no sign that the Russians are preparing to end the war,” and urged Ukraine's partners in the United States and Europe to coordinate efforts and "force Russia to peace.” 

"Pressure must be applied on Russia for an honest peace. We must take the experience of Ukraine and our partners to prevent deception by Russia,” Zelenskyy said. 

The stakes for Europe  

Trump has said he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year, describing Friday's summit as "a feel-out meeting” where he can assess the Russian leader's intentions. 

Yet Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He has also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender. 

European allies have pushed for Ukraine’s involvement in any peace talks, fearful that discussions that exclude Kyiv could otherwise favor Moscow. 

Trump on Monday ducked repeated chances to say that he would push for Zelenskyy to take part in his discussions with Putin, and was dismissive of Zelenskyy and his need to be part of an effort to seek peace. Trump said that following Friday's summit, a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders could be arranged, or that it could also be a meeting with “Putin and Zelenskyy and me.” 

The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the European Union, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them. 

The overarching fear of many European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine. 

Land concessions a non-starter for Kyiv  

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected. 

Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion. 

He said diplomatic discussions led by the US focusing on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations. 

Three weeks after Trump returned to office, his administration took the leverage of Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table — something that Putin has demanded — and signaled that the EU and Ukraine must handle security in Europe now while America focuses its attention elsewhere. 

Senior EU officials believe that Trump may be satisfied with simply securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, and is probably more interested in broader US geostrategic interests and great power politics, aiming to ramp up business with Russia and rehabilitate Putin. 

Russian advances in Donbas  

Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donbas region comprises Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted. 

Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles have said Ukraine's ability to fend off those advances could be critical: Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit and could complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region overnight on Wednesday, according to a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff. 

Ukrainian drones struck the Unecha station which supplies the Russian army, the statement said, adding that damage and a large fire was reported in the area around the pumping station. 

Unecha transports oil to two pipelines with an annual capacity to pump 60 million tons. The operation was carried out by units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine’s army and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry, the statement said.