Powerful Tsunami Hits Solomon Islands In South Pacific
Posted April 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami in the South Pacific, off the Solomon Islands on Monday.
The tsunami sent nine high waves crashing into the shore, destroying a village and killing at least 13 people. Many more are still missing and it’s believed the death toll will rise.
“There wasn’t any warning — the warning was the earth tremors,” said Alex Lokopio, premier of the Solomon’s Western Province. “It shook us very, very strongly and we were frightened, and all of a sudden the sea was rising up.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, located in Hawaii, measured the quake at magnitude 8.1.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s information director Alfred Maesulia couldn’t confirm the number of missing.
“Some people were seen floating on the sea during the big waves but it was very difficult to go near them,” Maesulia said. “The number at the moment is 13. It’s possible that number will increase, maybe double up or even more.”
Judith Kennedy, a resident of the western town of Gizo, described the carnage.
“All the houses near the sea were flattened,” she said. “The downtown area is a very big mess from the tsunami and the earthquake,” she added. “A lot of houses have collapsed. The whole town is still shaking” from aftershocks.
Another witness, Danny Kennedy, estimated the height of the wave at more than three metres.
“I’m driving down the street — there are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down,” he said.
“We’re just trying to mobilize water and food, and shelter for people at the moment because … in the town alone there’s going to be between 2,000-3,000 homeless. It’s not a very good scene at the moment.”
Unconfirmed reports suggested two villages had been completely flooded.
The Solomon Islands are located northeast of Australia and have a population of just over half a million people.
