eruption in the south pacific. much of the island nation was covered with a layer of ash. the tsunami triggered by the eruption caused flooding on parts of the us west coast and japan. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from tokyo. from high up in space, weather satellites caught the moment the huge underwater volcano let loose, sending a cloud of ash and rock 20 kilometres high and at least 500 kilometres wide. that's an ash cloud that could stretch from london to edinburgh, and somewhere beneath it is the tiny island kingdom of tonga. the first thing to hit the island was the shockwave. then came the rushing waters of a tsunami, smashing into seawalls and flooding what here appears to be a church. next, day turned tonight as the ash to fall. these pictures are reportedly from saturday afternoon,