-Kelly-

Tsunami 'leaves island under water'

By staff writers and wires

April 02, 2007 06:21pm
Article from: NEWS.com.au

MORE than 15 people have been reported killed and an entire island submerged in the Solomon Islands near the epicentre of an earthquake that triggered a tsunami.

"Reports have come in that more than 15 people died, just around Gizo, but with the other islands I cannot tell you," Western Province Premier Alex Lokopio said to Radio New Zealand.

He did not provide any further details of the deaths but said there was a desperate need for emergency supplies in the affected area following the tsunami, which followed an earthquake of at least 8.1 magnitude centred under the sea just 45km from Gizo.

"What we desperately need now is water, tents, and food because almost 3000-4000 people are now living on the hill at Gizo," Mr Lokopio said.

Solomons Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare earlier said the unconfirmed death toll was six, but said he expected that to rise.

Mr Lokopio said residents of Gizo were still fearful as aftershocks continued to rock the area.

He said there was no warning of the tsunami which hit just minutes after the area was rocked by the initial quake at 7.40am (6.40am AEST).

"There wasn't any warning (of the tsunami). This was a very sad thing because the warning was the earth tremors. It shook us very, very strongly and we were frightened," he said.

"All of a sudden the sea was rising up so all the people living around the coastal area, they ran up on the hill."

He said most of the government buildings and businesses in the town were destroyed, along with houses in low-lying areas.

Millions of dollars would be needed to repair the damage caused by the tsunami and quake, Mr Lokopio said.

Australia alerted

Tsunami alerts were issued for the south Pacific, with Australia's eastern seaboard warned of possible impending deadly waves. None materialised and the warnings have been downgraded, with officials saying normal activity can resume at sea and on beaches "with caution".

There was chaos in far north Queensland early today when the tsunami alerts were first issued, with traffic jams building in Cairns as motorists sought higher ground.

Beaches in NSW and Queensland were closed for a period earlier after Bureau of Meteorology officials said that while there "may not be a massive wall of water" about to hit the east coast, conditions could remain dangerous through the day.

As a precaution ferry services were cancelled on Sydney Harbour this morning but resumed in the after the tsunami risk was assessed as over.

Australia will give an initial $2 million to help the Solomon Islands deal with the tsunami.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government had made an initial offer of up to $2 million in emergency and reconstruction assistance to the Solomon Islands Government.

"The Australian Government is particularly concerned by reports of possible loss of life in Solomon Islands," he said.

Australia is working with the Solomon Islands government on a response effort.

"A more detailed assessment of the situation is under way," Mr Downer said.

Mr Downer said the Government had a supply of relief items like blankets, tarpaulins and clean water that could be sent immediately.

"Teams of disaster relief experts can also be deployed to supplement RAMSI resources in Solomon Islands," he said.

The RAMSI multinational force has sent a helicopter and a plane to the worst-hit areas.

RAMSI had offered aircraft, boats and personnel to the Solomon Islands Police Force (SIPF), an SIPF spokesman said.

"We believe there's been a number of villages very severely damaged and even washed away. But we don't know the exact number," the spokesman said.

Asked about the report of an entire island being overswept by the tsunami, he said: "That is correct. It was several metres underwater."

Communication links have been all but wiped out, with police stations on two islands among the scores of buildings inundated or swept away by the wall of water.

"They (RAMSI) have despatched a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft and those aircraft have observers on board to do an assessment of the damage," the police spokesman said.

"They are carrying an amount of emergency provisions and emergency medical equipment.
"Their first priority will be to establish a ... communications link, After that they will be conducting flights to do the assessment."

Chaos in the Solomons Islands

Locals in Gizo are trying to form emergency teams to organise supplies.

Dive shop owner and 22-year Gizo resident Danny Kennedy described the devastation to NEWS.com.au as aftershocks kept coming each minute this morning.

"Sometime about 7.50am things just started shaking," Mr Kennedy said. "It lasted about 90 seconds and I was pitched around from side to side.

"I'm here now and everything is broken inside the house. Both our boats have been pitched up about 40m from where they were moored in the evening.

"There was maybe a two to three metre wave but that was quite a force.

"It just swept through town. There's dugout canoes left in the streets."

Mr Kennedy said older-style houses built on struts had all been destroyed and from an initial survey of the damage he estimated there would be up to 3000 people homeless.

"People are walking around dazed - the town is in a complete panic now.

"Our biggest problem now is food and water. We are trying to mobilize tins of food and bottles of water to a location where we can distribute it evenly."

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Poor people


Edited - More updated news


Another earthquake 'likely' in Solomons

By Shelley Markham

April 02, 2007 06:31pm
Article from: AAP

THE Solomon Islands should brace for another big earthquake in the next few weeks, an Australian seismologist said today.

An 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit near the Solomon Islands at 6.40am (AEST) today, about 350km west-north-west of the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara and at a depth of 10 kilometres, sparking a tsunami.

Gary Gibson, who is a senior seismologist with the Seismology Research Centre in Melbourne, said earthquakes were not uncommon in the area but one of magnitude eight was big.

"I have just gone through my records of earthquakes in the Solomon Islands region and although we have earthquakes of magnitude seven and above ... we've never had a magnitude of just over eight before,'' Mr Gibson said.

He expected aftershocks in the region over the next few days and weeks.

There was also the possibility of another big earthquake.

"Any earthquake of that magnitude would have aftershocks for days and weeks,'' he said.

"One of the characteristics of this area is that you will often get, days or weeks or even a couple of months later, another big earthquake.

"There is absolutely no way of knowing for sure, but there is a significant chance of another big one.''

Mr Gibson said while big, today's earthquake was not as big or damaging as the one off Sumatra which caused the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004.

He said today's quake occurred on the fault line between the Australian plate and the Pacific plate.

"One side of the fault ruptured on a fault break that was probably 100 kilometres long or more and 100 kilometres deep,'' Mr Gibson said.

"One side moved about two or three metres relative to the other.

"It's a big earthquake by normal standards.

"But the Sumatra earthquake was gigantic. It was over 1,000 kilometres long by a couple of hundred kilometres deep.''

The Sumatra quake in 2004 was 9.3 magnitude, with its epicentre about 320 kilometres west of Medan, Sumatra.

Mr Gibson said the issuing of a tsunami threat to Australia's east coast and the closure of beaches in Queensland and NSW today was not premature.

"This one was plenty big enough for a very damaging earthquake in its own right and to generate a tsunami, which it apparently has along the coastline of the Solomons,'' he said.

"It's shallow, which means it had the implications that it could have ruptured the surface and generated a tsunami.''

S.A.S.H.A.

How sad.

Sasha

sunnykerr

On a slightly blasphemous note (not really, but you'll get it in a second): Never skip to the end of a story while reading it diagonally.

I saw "Australia" and it had to do with Solomon something and, all of a sudden, there was a Mr Gibson making authoritative statements. And, I swear, the first thing that went though my mind is "What has Mad Mel done this time?"

I'm properly ashamed of myself, for sure.

This is horrible. A

nd yet I feel guiltily relieved that, after the tsunami of 2005 (well December of, but whatever), there seems to have been some lessons learned. I mean, yeah, it must have been chaos and a pain in the neck to be in Australia right about that time. But at least they had proper warning.

Still... a whole island devastated like that... it's horrible.

-Kelly-

Mel Gibson

Not people on the Bondi beach they stayed on the beach and in the water they were told to leave and they didn't listen