'Hundreds missing' after Earthquake/Tsunami
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Hundreds missing' after Earthquake/Tsunami*
By Michael McKenna
April 03, 2007 01:00am
Article from: The Australian
A LARGE-SCALE relief effort will be launched today to deliver aid to
thousands of Solomon Islanders left homeless after a tsunami in the
Pacific nation left hundreds missing when it washed away entire villages.
At least 15 people were last night confirmed dead after 10m waves struck
some of the Solomons' most remote western provinces early yesterday,
sending a wall of water 500m inland.
The tsunami was triggered by a 8.1-magnitude undersea earthquake at
6.40am (AEST) about 350km of the capital of Honiara.
An Australian Government team comprising ministerial officials and the
Red Cross was yesterday sent to begin the rescue effort at Munda in the
Western Province. The major rescue effort was beginning last night with
food and medical supplies loaded on to ships in Honiara.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said last night the
death toll was expected to rise. But it could have been worse if the
giant waves had come at night.
"We are lucky that it happened during the daytime - that the people
observed that the sea receded and that basically is a sign that
something is not right and then most people have taken to higher
grounds," he said.
"Those that have been unfortunate to lose their lives were those people
who were not aware of what is happening."
Mr Sogavare said the full extent of casualties and damage was still
unclear. "Most of the islands are low-lying and the extent of the damage
is yet to be known," he said.
Buildings were levelled by the earthquake, which created a series of
large waves that continued to lash the Pacific Ocean islands for several
hours and washed away entire coastal villages. The Solomon Islands
Government last night issued a warning to expect more tsunami activity
following advice by Australian seismologists that another big earthquake
was possible in coming weeks.
The quake was one of the biggest in the Pacific Rim since the Boxing Day
quake off Indonesia in 2004, which unleashed massive tsunamis that
killed more than 200,000 people across the Indian Ocean.
An initial alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii to
Australia yesterday caused widespread panic in north Queensland, where
traffic was gridlocked out of Cairns after radio broadcasts told people
to immediately evacuate the coast.
The confusion continued further down the coast, with ferry services on
Sydney Harbour being halted and surfers on Bondi Beach asked to leave
the water and the beach in preparation for giant seas.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie was highly critical of the early
warning systems, and telephoned John Howard to get accurate information
on the extent of the threat. "Frankly, we need warning systems out to
sea on islands nearby to give us a better indication," he said.
"We were trying to work out the magnitude of it but we were shooting
blind, and I don't believe this is good enough for Australia."
Solomon Islands government spokesman Alfred Maesulia last night conceded
the death toll was likely to "rise significantly", with a full
assessment of the destruction hindered by the isolation of the
hardest-hit areas of the Choiseul province, on the maritime border of
Papua New Guinea, and Western province, where the tourist town of Gizo
was completely submerged by water.
Mr Maesulia said he feared disease outbreaks and untreated injury could
"worsen the situation", particularly in the more isolated coastal
communities.
"The number of deaths and injuries are continuing to rise, and will rise
significantly as we make contact with these remote communities. It could
be in the hundreds that are missing, entire villages have been wiped
out, we don't know how bad it is."
The Australian Government pledged $2 million last night in initial
emergency and reconstruction assistance.
The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands,
deployed to the strife-torn nation in 2003, was being mobilised under
the direction of the Solomons Government.
Thousands of locals who escaped to higher ground ahead of the waves
slept in bushland without sanitation or shelter.
A Royal Solomon Islands Police spokesman said there was great
uncertainty about the extent of the damage, particularly in Choiseul.
"The southern end of Choiseul is the great unknown at this stage. There
are so many communities that are out of touch and we don't know what
happened," he said.
Officials are not expected to reach the devastated areas until early
this afternoon.
Australian dive shop owner Danny Kennedy said the wave that hit Gizo was
3m high. "There are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have
completely collapsed and fallen down," he said. "We're just trying to
mobilise food and shelter for people at the moment because in the town
alone there's going to be 2000 to 3000 homeless."
The lessons of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which hit 13 countries
across the Indian Ocean, appear to have saved hundreds of lives. Solomon
Islands' Red Cross Secretary-General Charles Keli said the "tell-tale"
signs of the ocean receding from the shore, following a series of 2m
waves, sent people running. A government warning, broadcast about 30
minutes after the earthquake, also gave notice of the imminent danger.
"The waters were moving back into ocean and a lot of people in these
areas evacuated themselves to higher ground," he said.
The Australian Government said it was not aware of any Australian
casualties.
Mr Sogavare called on leaders at all levels to ensure victims received
all the help they needed.