Access to clean drinking water, ash cover and cut-off communications are the biggest problems facing inhabitants of the Pacific country of Tonga after the eruption of a sub-ocean volcano and tsunamis that hit the coast.

The ocean penetrated deep into the populated coastal areas and caused great damage, but, except for the alarm over a missing British woman, until yesterday there was no information on casualties and injuries on the Pacific island. Tonga is covered in ash, which contaminates clean water sources, and communication with some islands in the Pacific archipelago has been completely cut off due to damage to the infrastructure network.

The airport remained operational, with New Zealand and Australia sending reconnaissance aircraft to help repair the damage. Delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected is partly hampered by Tonga's tough measures to isolate itself completely from the pandemic. There has been only one case of covid-19 in Tonga so far, registered last year on October 30.

Tsunami caused by the eruption caused casualties thousands of kilometers away - in Peru, where two people drowned due to high waves. More than 20 Peruvian ports have been temporarily closed as a precaution.

Large waves also swept off the coast of Japan, alerting the west coast of the United States and the island state of Hawaii, where the ocean landed but did not cause much damage. The tsunami also shook the Adriatic, but insignificantly. The effects were recorded by meteorological stations in Istria, to which the tide traveled 17.000 kilometers in 15 hours.