Landslides and tsunami leave 1,000 homeless

LANDSLIDES and a tsunami destroyed the homes of about one-third of the population on a Solomon Island, but lives were likely spared as residents with memories of previous disasters fled quickly to higher ground, officials said yesterday.

From the air, extensive damage could be seen on a remote western island after a 7.2-magnitude temblor triggered the landslides in the Pacific Solomon Islands on Monday, said disaster management office director Loti Yates.

No injuries have been reported some 30 hours after the biggest in a series of quakes churned a tsunami wave that was up to 10 feet (3 metres) high as it ploughed into the coast, officials said.

However, more than 1,000 people have been affected after some 200 houses were destroyed on Rendova, an island some 300 kilometres from the capital Honiara.

Debris lined the foreshore and damaged houses on the coasts of Rendova and Tetepare, and deep scars on hills and cliffs caused by landslides were visible.

Hillsides crashed down and the tsunami inundated homes on Monday, but residents’ memories of earlier disasters probably helped prevent any casualties, officials and residents said.

In April 2007, an 8.1 temblor unleashed a tsunami that killed more than 50 people. A quake-churned tsunami that killed more than 200 on nearby Samoa and Tonga in September was another reminder, locals said.

“People are very sensitive, as a quake conjures up memories, and people immediately begin going to higher ground,” police commissioner Peter Marshall said.

“The fact it was daylight, the isolated nature of the wave and that the landslides were in a relatively sparsely populated area” also helped, he said.

The largest quake – magnitude 7.2 – happened about 9.30am local time on Monday and caused the tsunami to hit the coast a short time later. At least nine other quakes greater than magnitude 5.0 have rocked the region since.

In the provincial capital Gizo, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy said the general rule is that “if there’s anything more than 20 seconds of shaking or any sea water recedes, head for the hills”.

One village, Retavo, was reportedly inundated by a wall of sea water up to 10 feet high, but no deaths or injuries had been reported.