Niuatoputapu Airport , also known as Kuini Lavinia Airport, is an airport in Niuatoputapu

Niuatoputapu

For the 2009 tsunami, see the main article: 2009 Samoa tsunami.Niuatoputapu is an island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its name means sacred island. Older European names for the island are Traitors island or Keppel island.Niuatoputapu is located in the north of the country,...

, Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

.

Damage to the airport from the 2009 Samoa earthquake

2009 Samoa earthquake

The 2009 Samoa earthquake was an 8.1 Mw submarine earthquake that took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on September 29, 2009 . At a magnitude of 8.1, it was the largest earthquake of 2009....

 and ensuing tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

caused it to be temporarily closed following the disaster. This disabled the rest of the rest of the country from providing aid to the Niuatoputapu residents as mud and debris on the runway made it unsuitable for any aircraft to land.