Tsunami toll set to rise
Peter Mickelburough and agencies April 03, 2007 12:00am
THOUSANDS of people are
missing or homeless and at least 13 are dead after a tsunami unleashed by a powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands. Two children are among the dead. Among the worst-affected areas were Gizo, capital of Western province, and Sasamunga, in Choiseul province. The toll was expected to rise as the devastation in isolated communities became clearer. In Australia, coastal towns in Queensland and NSW were placed on tsunami alert after the 8.1-
magnitude quake hit the Solomons at 6.40am. After the horror of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which left 230,000 people dead or missing, the alert saw holidaymakers flee Queensland resorts. Beaches along Australia's east coast were closed. Solomons deputy police commissioner Peter Marshall said a national state of emergency has been declared. The quake struck about 350km northwest of the capital, Honiara. Julian Makaa, a spokesman for the Solomons National Disaster Management Office, said villagers in the remote west were reporting that people had been swept away as waves ploughed through their communities. Reports remained sketchy, because communications were reduced in many cases to scratchy two-way radio lines. Emergency officials had yet to reach the area hit. "Some people were seen floating on the sea during the big waves, but it was very difficult to go near them," said Alfred Maesulia, a spokesman for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's office. "The number at the moment is 13. It's possible that number will increase, maybe double or more." Mr Maesulia said deaths and widespread destruction were also reported on Simbo, Choiseul and Ranunga islands near Gizo. "There are reports some villages were completely washed away," he said. "Sasamunga
village is quite a big village . . . it was reported that 300 houses were completely destroyed in that village alone." Australian expatriate Naomi Baea, who runs an island resort near Gizo, escaped the rising water with her family in a canoe. "The adrenalin was pumping like crazy," Ms Baea told Channel 9. "People's possessions and dead dogs and things were floating away." Ms Baea and her family were last night safe on high ground above Gizo. Australian Dorothy Parkinson lives in Gizo, and said residents had next to no time to run. "It was a noise like an underground explosion; (then) it began rocking the whole hill," Ms Parkinson told Nine. "The wave came almost instantaneously." Gizo dive shop owner Danny Kennedy said: "In the town, there's going to be 2000-3000 homeless." Australian troops, in the Solomons to help restore law and order to the nation, were reportedly safe. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the Government had made an offer of up to $2 million in aid. The Australian Seismological Centre has warned of another equally strong quake soon. Director Kevin McCue said past quakes in the region had been followed by another of similar magnitude. "There is a better than 50-50 chance there'll be another magnitude eight earthquake in the Solomon Islands in the next few hours to the next few weeks," Mr McCue said. "This happened in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1977."