Satellite images show the aftermath of Tonga volcano's eruption

Volcanic ash covers rooftops and vegetation. Aid deliveries to the Pacific island nation were delayed because of the ash on the runway.

CPL Vanessa Parker/New Zealand Defense Force/via AP

Satellite images show the destruction caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano in January.

Maxar Technologies providedNPR with satellite photos of the area. The volcanic eruption caused an "unprecedented disaster" for the islands, according to the government.

The effects of the eruption were felt as far away as the U.S. West Coast.

Some of the populated islands in the archipelago region were damaged by the eruption of the volcano. Nomuka Island, 40 miles northeast of the volcano, is covered in ash, and the coral reefs around the atolls were also damaged.

The low-frequency boom from the explosion was recorded by 53 detectors around the planet. The loudest event the network had detected in more than two decades was this one.