The tsunami threat around the Pacific from a huge undersea volcanic eruption has begun to recede, while the extent of damage to Tonga remains unclear.
Satellite images show the spectacular eruption that took place on Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters.
A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.
In Tonga it sent tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground.
The eruption cut the internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world anxiously trying to get in touch to figure out if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage.
Even government websites and other official sources remained without updates on Sunday afternoon.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there had not yet been any official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga, but cautioned that authorities had not yet made contact with some coastal areas and smaller islands.
"Communication with Tonga remains very limited. And I know that is causing a huge amount of anxiety for the Tongan community here," Ardern said.
She said there had been significant damage to boats and shops along the Tongan coastline.
The capital, Nuku'alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, Ardern said, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.
Aid agencies said thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
Ardern said New Zealand was unable to send a military surveillance flight over Tonga on Sunday because the ash cloud was 19,000 metres high but they hoped to send the flight on Monday, followed by supply planes and navy ships.
One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19.
Ardern said New Zealand's military staff were all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by Tonga.
Dave Snider, the tsunami warning co-ordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin, and the spectacle was both "humbling and scary".
The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and Santa Cruz, California, but did not appear to cause any widespread damage.
Snider said he anticipated the tsunami situation in the US and elsewhere to continue improving.
Tsunami advisories were earlier issued for Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii, Alaska and the US Pacific coast.
The US Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake.
The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was declared for the whole archipelago, and data from the Pacific tsunami center said waves of 80cm were detected.
Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter he is "deeply concerned for the people of Tonga as they recover from the aftermath of a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The United States stands prepared to provide support to our Pacific neighbours."
Tonga gets its internet via an undersea cable from Suva, Fiji. All internet connectivity with Tonga was lost about 6.40pm local time.
On Tonga, which is home to about 105,000 people, video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas and swirling around homes, a church and other buildings.
The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions.
Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent there began erupting in late December.
Satellite images captured by the company show how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.
Following Saturday's eruption, residents in Hawaii, Alaska and along the US Pacific coast were advised to move away from the coastline to higher ground.
In Santa Cruz, California, officials were taking stock of damage after a surge damaged boats and inundated low-lying streets and parking lots, sending cars afloat.
In southern California, surging waters sunk at least one boat in Ventura Harbor northwest of Los Angeles.
New Zealand private forecaster Weather Watch tweeted that people as far away as Southland, the country's southernmost region, reported hearing sonic booms from the eruption.
Others reported that many boats were damaged by a tsunami that hit a marina in Whangarei.
Satellite images showed a 5km-wide plume rising about 20km after the eruption began early on Friday.
© DPA 2022