Grim Reports From Gizo in Solomon Islands Following Tsunami
Posted on April 2, 2007
A Sydney Morning Herald story reports that there has been considerable destruction in Gizo, a popular diving tourism destination, from the tsunami that resulted from the 8.0 earthquake near the Solomon Islands. There are people injured, people missing and some "2000 and 3000 homeless" according to one person cited in the article.
The country's Prime Minister's office reports that at least six people have been killed and several are missing as "10-metre-high waves continue to crash [on] coastal villages".This report is just from Gizo. Damage and fatalities from the earthquake and from tsunamis has also been reported in other parts of the Solomon Islands and in Papa New Guinea.Reports from police at Gizo - the capital of the western province and a popular destination for divers - said water now completely covered the lower areas of the town, while waves continued to pound the nearby towns of Noro and Munda.
About 50 homes in Gizo - just 45 kilometres from the centre of the quake - had reportedly been flattened and boats had been washed into the town.
There were reports that large waves had penetrated 500 metres inland, wiping out villages.