Tonga's Internet Nightmare: How a Volcanic Eruption Severed Global Connectivity

On January 15, 2022, a massive volcanic eruption from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga ripped apart the underwater cables that connected the island nation to the rest of the world. The eruption, one of the largest recorded in modern history, sent shockwaves across the Pacific, cutting Tonga's international and domestic cables and plunging the country into a state of digital isolation.

In the immediate aftermath, Tongans found themselves unable to communicate with the outside world or even within their own country. Landlines and mobile phones went dead as the cables that carried both voice and data traffic were severed. For weeks, Tongans had no way to check on the safety of their loved ones or access essential services. The country's economy also ground to a halt, with businesses unable to process transactions or communicate with suppliers and customers.

Repairing the damage proved to be a complex and time-consuming process. The international cable that connected Tonga to Fiji and the rest of the world had a 55-mile section completely destroyed, requiring the deployment of a specialized cable repair ship to splice in a new segment. This took five weeks to complete. The domestic cable linking the main island of Tongatapu to the northern island of Vava'u remained down for over 18 months, leaving many Tongans without reliable internet access.

The Tonga cable outage highlighted the fragility of the global communication infrastructure, which relies heavily on a network of undersea cables that are vulnerable to natural disasters, accidents, and even geopolitical tensions. As the world becomes increasingly dependent on the internet for everything from commerce to social connections, the need to strengthen and diversify these critical systems has become more urgent than ever.