Tsunami-Struck Tonga Suffers "Extensive Damage", First Death Reported

Early indications of the scale of the crisis on the virtually cut-off island kingdom were emerging through patchy satellite phone contact with Tonga, surveillance flights and satellite images, three days after the volcanic eruption.

Aid agencies reported "extensive damage" in the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday following a massive underwater volcanic blast and tsunami, as the first death from the disaster was confirmed.

Early indications of the scale of the crisis on the virtually cut-off island kingdom were emerging through patchy satellite phone contact with Tonga, surveillance flights and satellite images, three days after the volcanic eruption.

The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami had been found, her family said. At least one other person in Tonga was reported missing.

Australia and New Zealand, which scrambled Orion reconnaissance plane flights over Tonga the previous day, readied aid ships for deployment to Tonga.