Up to 500 homeless after quakes, tsunami in Solomon Islands
Earthtimes | 04 Jan 2010
Wellington - A tsunami following two powerful earthquakes left about 500 people homeless in the Solomon Islands, which has been racked by a series of shakes in the last two days, according to reports from the north Pacific state on Tuesday. One village on the island of Rendova, which suffered massive landslides, was wiped out and a number of houses destroyed or damaged, Julian Makaa, of the disaster management office, told Radio New Zealand.
He said there had been no reports of casualties.
The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude-7.2 quake struck at 11:36 am (2148 GMT Sunday) following a 6.5-magnitude quake an hour earlier.
Since then seven quakes of more than 5 on the Richter scale, including one measuring 6.1, have shaken the Pacific island chain.
Makaa said the worst-hit areas were the islands of Tetepare and Rendova in the western part of the island group, 300 kilometres northwest of the capital Honiara.
In 2007, an 8.1-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck the small island of Gizo, killing 52 people and leaving thousands homeless.
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