Tongans deafened by volcanic blast as they fled for safety

A general view from a New Zealand Defence Force P-3K2 Orion surveillance flight shows heavy ash fall over Nomuka in Tonga after the Pacific island nation was hit by a tsunami triggered by an undersea volcanic eruption January 17, 2022. New Zealand Defence Force/Handout via REUTERS

When Tonga's Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano violently erupted, sending shockwaves and tsunami across the Pacific, the blast in the small island nation was so deafening that fleeing families could only wave at their loved ones to run.

"The first explosion .. .our ears were ringing and we couldn't even hear each other, so all we do is pointing to our families to get up, get ready to run," local journalist Marian Kupu told Reuters in one of the first eyewitness accounts to emerge from the South Pacific nation.