Earthquake and Tsunami-Solomons

News reports showing this. I hope everyone is ok.

Ed

Radio Australia reported "The quake struck near the island of Gizo, about 350 kiklometres north west of the Solomoms capital, Honiara.

Solomons' police say there have been no reports of loss of life, but they have confirmed some damage to property on the islands of Gizo, Lefung and Taro.

A journalist at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara says early reports from the island of Simbo spoke of damage to houses and waves travelling 200 metres inland."

The U.S. National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center advisory on 01 Apr 2007 22:39 UTC says: A Tsunami Warning and Watch Remain in Effect
Warning: Solomon Is., Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Northeastern Australia, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Fiji
Watch: Kermadec is, New Zealand

Just read about this- hope it is a false alarm as far as the tsunami. anyone in Honiara with news?

Tsunami in Solomons

Apparently there has been a tsunami.

Yeah, everyone is now reporting about 10' (3m) wave. Plenty big enough to destroy anything waterfront that isn't made of concrete. The quake causing the tsunami was also close enough that a lot of damage happened before the wave struck. The local police are saying there have been deaths and a great deal of property damage.

Ed

I've just heard from the people at Uepi - they felt the quake quite strongly but have no damage nor tsunami. All guests and staff are fine.

Six people reported dead - of course I would never expect such figures to be accurate when coming from a place like the Solomons, with its remote islands and poor communications.

Still, it certainly isn't the major disaster the SE Asian tsunami was.

Latest reports give at least 15 dead across a number of islands. Of course, many have no means of communication, so it will take time to get full reports. The sea seems to have come inland up to 500 metres on some islands. Solomon Airlines have cancelled flights to Gizo due to runway damage, but both airborne and patrol boat rescue crews are heading west from Honiara. Other airstrips, eg Munda, are still open. The small wharf in Noro is destroyed, and there is a crack n the middle of the big concrete one.
The Catholic church in Gizo has been destroyed - I haven't heard about any others yet, but as power is down, people are finding it hard to get messages out. The mobile phone network is out too.
Low-lying areas of Gizo have been devastated, and many boats in the area.
The video shown on the above link has very little local footage - it mainly shows Sydney and Queensland, where tsunami reports were greatly exaggerated - maximum wave height increase along the NSW coast is about 20cm. it also reports that the film was archive material - I suspect very little actual footage has got out of Western Province yet.

This was posted on another site (http://www.solomonline.com) a short while ago:

Earthquake and tsunami stikes Gizo hard
Submitted by WebChief on Mon, 04/02/2007 - 08:21.::

I have just spoken to my father-in-law in Gizo ( Monday, 6.30pm Solomon time). He said the quake hit so hard this morning (apparently at 6.40am) that they were unable to stand up. About 30 seconds after the quake they heard screaming from Malakereva 3, which is on the waterfront about 20m below the house. They ran to an outlook over Malakereva and saw the first wave hitting. There were apparently three waves. Most of the houses on the waterfront facing the ocean have been destroyed. It is assumed that the villages of Titiana and Pailongi have been completely swept away.

Pictures have been posted on This Solomon islands site (click on the tsunami link.

I'm interested in any news about Titiana and New Manra (the I-Kiribati villages near Gizo). I spend some time there in 2001 and 2003. These places must have been hit directly by the tsunami.

I'm also interested in the situation in Pailonge, Babanga and the Malaitan village on the lagoon off Gizo.

If anyone has any updates, I would like to know.

Thanks,

Wouter

Danny Kennedy of Dive Gizo is OK but sounds like the hospital is gone & there are now several hundred people up on the hillside in the open.

Water tanks destroyed in the quake.

Cannot believe I was having such a brilliant time there last year. The waterfront market - the PT bar, all those shops & houses on the front - gone ;-(

Anyone know if the trade store in Noro pulled through? I rather doubt it, if the cannery was destroyed (even though it's in the opposite direction).

I just got the following from Honiara:

Firstly all in Honiara (ie Kastom Gaden and everyone else) are OK despite some fears and a slight but frightening drop and return in the sea level and many running for the hills in a delayed solomon kind of way! Honiara is a little tense with the centre closed and confused but am sure all will quickly return to normal here. But extensive damage has occurred in Western and Choiseul provinces and news is still coming in and is very sketchy.

Some details for anyone who needs to know: Gizo was heavily damaged particularly around the Malakerava side and at least 2 people died and many houses are reported 'floating out to sea'. Must be bad on Pailongi side but no reports. On Kolombangara Kukundu school is OK but with a giant crack in the playing field. Vanga had its wharf collapse and sea side building damaged no reports and no radios on in other villages or at Sausama. Many radios have been abandoned while people rightly fled to higher ground so expect we will hear more soon. Claudine heard that the Pelena boat had just pulled out of Vavanga before the earthquake and was probably at sea and should be OK. Glendon, Mary's (from KGA) husband, managed to grab their daughter Emma and save her from the sea but the KGA house was flooded. In Simbo at least one village has been mostly destroyed and 3 people died. In Ranonga there are reports of landslides and possible deaths. In Sasamuga it is reported 'the sea came in' and two people died and there is extensive damage. others in Choiseul Luti school is down, Pujiwai houses damaged, a small island Kuruna where some people lived is reportedly sunk - generally all of south choiseul has been effected. Across western province water sources are reported as disappeared and dirty water is bubbling out of the ground in new places.

The potential threat area included the weather coast, RenBel and Makira. Avuavu has confirmed there is no damage there and Makira has not been contactable. No doubt there has been damage in Bougainville and new Britain in PNG looking at the map.

Response systems seem to be working OK. NDMO is meeting now. 100 police are on standby to fly down by chopper to western province this afternoon and another 100 tomorrow if required. RAMSI choppers have already gone this morning so more detailed news should be available soon.

This just in from Dive Gizo

'The township has also suffered water damage from the wave and will take a few days to sort out. Power and water supply is the main problem now as many people including ourselves lost their water tanks . Power poles lay on the ground around town and collapsed houses need to be taken out of the power grid.

On a very sad note, some lives were lost in the villages from drowning and an unknown number are missing at this time. Hopefully this number won't go up.'

Today's Solomon Star has fairly cpmprehensive coverage.