Installing ws for node on RaspberryPi

Question

I'm encountering the following issue with installing ws for javascript node (v. 15.8.0) on a raspberrypi zero 2 w.

julius@pi:~ $ sudo npm i ws
TypeError: Class extends value #<Object> is not a constructor or null
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/tar/lib/read-entry.js:90:4)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1108:14)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1137:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:973:32)
    at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:813:14)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:997:19)
    at require (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:92:18)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/tar/lib/pack.js:27:19)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1108:14)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1137:10)
/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/config/lib/index.js:163
      throw new Error('call config.load() before reading values')
      ^

Error: call config.load() before reading values
    at Config.get (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/config/lib/index.js:163:13)
    at process.errorHandler (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/error-handler.js:171:32)
    at process.emit (node:events:378:20)
    at process._fatalException (node:internal/process/execution:163:25)
julius@pi:~ $

Thanks a lot for your Help

Julius