An Underwater Internet Cable Mishap Sent an Entire Country Back to the 1880s. It Could Happen Anywhere

In 2022, a natural disaster severed Tonga's digital connection to the outside world, and chaos ensued. The rest of the world needs to pay attention to what happened there. It all started with an underwater volcanic eruption. Debris shot into the air, gathering force as it cascaded down the volcano's flanks, plunged back into the ocean, and sliced Tonga's only international internet cable in two places, like cutting out the middle of a submarine sandwich. Tonga, a tiny island nation …