Offline: Tonga was cut off from the internet by a volcano
2 days ago
- #internet
- #Tonga
- #volcano
- Sam Vea experienced the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai, which caused significant disruptions in Tonga.
- The eruption severed Tonga's undersea internet cable, isolating the country from global communications.
- Tonga's economy and daily life were severely impacted, with banking, commerce, and personal communications halted.
- Emergency repairs to the cable took five weeks, highlighting the fragility of global internet infrastructure.
- The incident underscored the geopolitical and environmental vulnerabilities of undersea cables.
- Tonga's government prioritized repairing and diversifying its cable infrastructure to prevent future outages.
- The story illustrates the critical yet often overlooked role of physical internet infrastructure in modern life.