The title of this post translates as, "last night there was an earthquake". I know that isn't perfectly correct, as the earthquake was two nights ago now. However, saying the night before last is a bit of a stretch for my limited Tongan.
My first attempt to say "there was an earthquake" in Tongan was " 'Ane po na'a Tonga teketekelili." I thought this translated as "last night Tonga shook", but my language teacher corrected this to "last night Tonga was enraged". Having experienced the earthquake, that isn't an inappropriate description.
Anyway, you are probably all more interested to read about the earthquake rather than receive "ako lea fakatonga" (Tongan language lessons).
Fortunately, I haven't been sleeping through the night since arriving in Tonga so I was awake when all the excitement began. Fortunate in that I was able to experience it rather than fortunate because I didn't get hurt (which I didn't anyway). I may have awoken ahead of the earthquake because the dogs in there weird doggish-way sensed its approach and began barking madly well before the ground rumbled. Once the earthquake began, everything went quiet and there was just the roar of the quake itself and the occasional clatter as something fell from a shelf or the blinds were smashed against the wall.
It felt like our house was a boat being tossed about on a rough ocean. The house, and possibily a large amount of Nuku'alofa, seemed to move as one whole and there never seemed to be any real threat of the house being broken up or the roof collapsing.
After the initial excitement and confirming with my bemused housemate that we had just experienced an earthquake we both went back to bed. Before going to bed, John had watched an episode of Buffy that featured an earthquake which resulted in the opening of a hellmouth and the issuing forth of various demons. I think at first he thought the real earthquake was just a dream, and then later, if it was a dream, when the demons would appear. Tonga is too devout for this possibility.
There was a tsunami warning issued shortly after the earthquake, but Tonga was without power and even the Australian High Commission, which has its own generator, didn't receive the warning of the threat of the wave until forty minutes after it was meant to hit Tonga. A great early warning system.
This week has involved a couple of firsts. In addition to the earthquake, I saw my first 'anga (shark) whilst snorkelling. Only a 60cm reef shark, but it caused me to pause for a moment as it emerged from the murky water (probably stirred up by the earthquake and an overnight storm). I should have followed it for a while, but lost it whilst trying to attract the attention of the others I was snorkelling with.
Unfortunately, whilst I was swimming somebody stole my small swimming goggles which I had left with my t-shirt. We were warned about the high likelihood of being the victims of burglary and theft whilst we were here. As far as things go a $10 pair of goggles is pretty light price to pay for my first experience.
I am to work on the development of an infrastructure plan for the island of 'Eua I visited at easter. My role will be in support of two foreign technical assistants, from NZ and the UN, so I am not sure there will be much for me to do. At least I will score a trip to 'Eua out of my involvement. There may also be a subsequent plan for the Niuas, which are the most remote of the Tongan islands. They are closer to Samoa then Nuku'alofa and are serviced by one plane a week and one boat a month (if the ocean is calm enough to allow them to dock). There is little chance of me going to the Niuas as a tourist, so going for work would be quite a piece of luck.
Finally, I didn't manage to sleep through all of last night either. I wasn't woken by an earthquake, but by my mum calling to let me know that my sister Annabel had given birth to a baby girl Mieke Elizabeth Kennedy. This was as exciting a reason to be awoken as an earthquake, though a little more expected. The free flight from virginblue as compensation for our delayed trip to Tonga will be put to good use to visit Mieke, my other niece Bronte and all my family in Sydney for christmas.
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