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Tonga's Internet Nightmare: How a Volcanic Eruption Severed Global Connectivity
30 Sep, 2025
Summary
- Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption in January 2022 cut Tonga's undersea cables
- Tonga lost all internet and communication for weeks, plunging the country into digital isolation
- Repair of the international cable took 5 weeks, while the domestic cable remained down for over 18 months
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.
