Tonga | A Tongan man swims in the ocean for 27 hours after a tsunami dragged him to the limelight

The first a 57-year-old Tongan hit by a tsunami Lisala Folau was safe high in the tree. By the time he next arrived, he had already landed. The tsunami caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga sucked Folau into the high seas on Saturday 15 January.

Folau, who was interviewed by the news agency Reuters, says he has been intoxicated eight times. On the ninth time, Folau got a grip on the tree trunk, on which he finally floated and shoveled ashore.

Folaun the small home island of Atata, inhabited by about 60 people, was almost completely destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunamis.

“I heard my son screaming at me from the beach, but I didn’t want to answer because I didn’t want him to go swimming to look for me,” Folau tells Reuters.

After the eruption, tsunamis of up to 15 meters hit the shores of the Ha’appa archipelago and Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga. According to a report from the Tongan Navy, there were 5 to 10-meter waves at sea.

To Folau’s home island, Atata is about a half-hour boat ride from the main island of Tongatapu.

“I think life and death are present at sea. Only when you reach the shore do you know if you’re alive or dead, ”Folau describes in his head, cruising thoughts in the waves of the waves.

After bathing for about 7.5 kilometers and 27 hours, Folau said he reached the beach of Tongatapu on Sunday 16th and was rescued.

His survival story with it, Folau has been nicknamed Aquaman on social media. The nickname refers to the protagonist of a cartoon capable of breathing in water.

Folau doesn’t know that cartoon and movie character. Folau thanks his creator for his salvation and rejoices that he did not have to leave his family.

Volcano The eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apain was very strong. According to preliminary estimates, it has been compared to about a thousand in intensity To the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

The volcano is located between two uninhabited islands about 65 kilometers from the island nation’s capital, Nuku’alofa.

First, the center of the volcano collapsed and disappeared underwater. There was an eruption about two hours later. The eruption cloud reached a height of at least 20 kilometers. Tsunami waves set off and reached the islands of Tonga and eventually the Pacific coastal states.

The last such eruption occurred in the Philippines in 1991, when the Pinatubo volcano erupted. It is possible that the case of Tonga was the most severe volcanic eruption in more than 30 years.

By the time the eruption was over, almost the entire volcano and the lands around it had sunk below the water, except for the highest peaks of the adjacent islands.

Read more: Tonga eruption equates to a thousand Hiroshima nuclear bombs – This is what a huge ash cloud would look like if the disaster happened in Finland

Tongan the archipelago is located in the South Pacific about 3,300 kilometers east of Australia. It includes 176 islands, of which only 40 are inhabited. Tonga has a total population of about 105,000.

The damage caused by the volcanic eruption is still being investigated. Disconnection has hampered access to information.