cgksheff
02-04-2007, 09:58
At least 12 people were killed and many more missing after a powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the tiny Solomon Islands, sweeping away entire villages and triggering a Pacific-wide tsunami alert.
The shallow quake, with a magnitude of at least 8.0, levelled buildings and damaged a hospital on Gizo island northwest of the Solomons capital, Honiara, while a tsunami sucked homes into the sea as thousands of panicked residents fled for higher ground.
At least seven people died in Gizo, many trapped in their homes when waves swept through the town. Other bodies could be seen but not reached because of big waves, the government said in a statement.
"The wave was up to 10-metres (32 feet) high in some villages," Solomon Islands' chief government spokesman Alfred Maesulia told Reuters. "Some villages have been entirely washed away."
The quake struck 350 km (220 miles) north-west of Honiara during the morning (2040 GMT on Sunday) and sparked a tsunami alert around the Pacific.
Beaches along Australia's east coast were shut and ferry services halted in Sydney Harbour amid fears of a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
The alert was lifted about nine hours later, with damage confined to the immediate area around the quake.
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKT23122820070402
The shallow quake, with a magnitude of at least 8.0, levelled buildings and damaged a hospital on Gizo island northwest of the Solomons capital, Honiara, while a tsunami sucked homes into the sea as thousands of panicked residents fled for higher ground.
At least seven people died in Gizo, many trapped in their homes when waves swept through the town. Other bodies could be seen but not reached because of big waves, the government said in a statement.
"The wave was up to 10-metres (32 feet) high in some villages," Solomon Islands' chief government spokesman Alfred Maesulia told Reuters. "Some villages have been entirely washed away."
The quake struck 350 km (220 miles) north-west of Honiara during the morning (2040 GMT on Sunday) and sparked a tsunami alert around the Pacific.
Beaches along Australia's east coast were shut and ferry services halted in Sydney Harbour amid fears of a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
The alert was lifted about nine hours later, with damage confined to the immediate area around the quake.
............
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKT23122820070402