This satellite image shows the volcanic eruption in Tonga from space. [Image: AP-Newsis]
The damage to an undersea communications cable caused by last month's volcano eruption and tsunami in Tonga appears to be far worse than first feared.
A submarine shockwave blew up a section of fiber-optic cable more than 80 kilometers long.
The BBC's Ben Lowings reports.
[Reporter]
When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano detonated on the 15th of January, an explosive force hundreds of times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb was unleashed.
An ash cloud went halfway up to space.
On the seabed between Tonga and Fiji, the blast displaced an entire section of telecoms cable by 5 kilometers.
A ship sent to repair the connection did not have enough spare cable.
Poor communications have hampered the international aid effort following the disaster.
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