Tonga reconnects to internet after volcano eruption

Nuku'alofa, Feb 22: Full internet access has been restored in Tonga five weeks after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai undersea volcano , local media reports said on Tuesday.

Residents were able to connect with the digital world on the main island of Tongatapu and the island of Eua.

The tiny South Pacific kingdom's undersea fiber-optic cable, which is used to transmit almost all digital information and was damaged in the seaquake, has been repaired.

"Thanks optic fiber internet. We can now see the world," news portal Kaniva Tonga quoted local resident Paulo Lātu"s post on Facebook.

The eruption that took place late in January, triggered a tsunami that reached as far as Alaska, Japan and South America.

The Tongan government had said that 84% of its population of nearly 105,000 people was affected by what experts have deemed one of the world's worst volcanic eruptions in decades.

Source: DW