10 foot high Tsunami Hits Solomons; 12 Reported Dead
Pastor Dale Morgan
**10 foot high Tsunami Hits Solomons; 12 Reported Dead*
Monday April 2, 2007 3:01 AM
By EVAN WASUKA
Associated Press Writer
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - A powerful undersea earthquake Monday in
the South Pacific sent a tsunami several yards high crashing into the
Solomon Islands, devastating at least one village, officials and
residents said.
Police and residents said a wave about 10 feet high struck the western
town of Gizo, inundating buildings and causing widespread destruction. A
man who answered the telephone at the Gizo police station said there
were initial reports that twelve people, six of them children, had been
killed by the tsunami but they were still unconfirmed. The phone cut out
abruptly before the man gave his name.
Gizo resident Judith Kennedy said water ``right up to your head'' swept
through the town.
``All the houses near the sea were flattened,'' she told The Associated
Press by telephone. ``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.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude-8.0 and
struck at 7:39 a.m. about 6 miles beneath the sea floor, 217 miles
northwest of the capital, Honiara.
The Pacific region from Australia to Hawaii went on high alert for
several hours after the quake struck between the islands of Bougainville
and New Georgia, though officials canceled a region-wide tsunami warning
after the danger period passed.
Gizo, a regional center, is just 25 miles from the earthquake's epicenter.
Another witness in the town, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy, estimated
the height of the wave at 10 feet.
``I'm driving down the street - there are boats in the middle of the
road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down,'' he said in
a telephone interview.
``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.''
Harry Wickham, who owns a waterfront hotel in Gizo, said the damage was
widespread.
``The waves came up probably about 10 feet and swept through town,'' he
told Australia's Nine Network television by telephone. ``There's a lot
of water damage and a lot of debris floating around,'' he added.
``Ten feet of water washing through town - you can imagine what damage
it has done here.''
Julian McLeod of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office
said there were unconfirmed reports that two villages in the country's
far west were flooded.
``Two villages were reported to have been completely inundated,'' McLeod
told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. ``We have received reports of
four people missing.''
A town in the west, Munda, was believed to be badly damaged, officials
and the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. said, but communications were
difficult and details were not confirmed.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported the quake at
magnitude 8.1, and said a temblor of that strength could cause a
destructive tsunami and issued a warning bulletin for the Solomon
Islands and neighboring Papua New Guinea.
It ordered a lower-level ``tsunami watch'' for other places, including
most South Pacific countries, but later canceled the alert. The center
said a 6-inch wave had been reported in Honiara.
Police Sgt. Godfrey Abiah said in Honiara that police in Gizo had
received warning about a possible tsunami and were helping people leave
the town for higher ground when the wave hit.
``We have lost radio contact with the two police stations down there and
we're not getting any clear picture from down there,'' he told The
Associated Press by telephone.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Deli Oso, said the
quake was felt in Honiara but there were no reports of any damage.