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Subscribe to RSSWitnesses say two waves about five feet high each hit the west side of the Solomon Islands following an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, resulting in fatalities. TODAY's Al Roker reports.
Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: At least five people were killed on Wednesday after a strong earthquake in the South Pacific generated a 3 foot tsunami that aid workers said washed away homes and wiped out remote island communities.
A tidal surge moved houses by up to 30 feet, and there were reports of people and fishing boats being washed out to sea, according to local volunteers for humanitarian charity, World Vision.
The magnitude 8.0 quake struck Wednesday about 3 miles under the Santa Cruz Islands, a thinly-populated part of the Solomon Islands that lie east of Papua New Guinea and northeast of Australia, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A 3 foot wave hit near the town of Lata, swamping some villages and the town's main airport as people fled to safety on higher ground, Reuters reported.
There was no tsunami threat to Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
According to Reuters, Lata hospital's director of nursing, Augustine Pilve, told New Zealand television that five people had been killed, including a boy aged about ten. Pilve added that more casualties were possible as officials were making their way to villages that may have been hit.
It was not immediately clear if the deaths were caused by the tremor or the tidal surge.
World Vision said two communities in the province of Temotu had been "almost entirely wiped out by a one metre sea surge."
In the town of Venga, with a population of about 750, the surge shifted homes by up to 30 feet, damaging around 90 percent of them, the charity added. Nela, with a population of almost 200 people, saw 95 percent of its homes washed away, the charity said.
"I am currently walking through one community [in Lata], and I'm knee-deep in water," Jeremiah Tabua, World Vision's emergency response coordinator in the Solomon Islands, said in a statement released by the charity. "I can see a number of houses that have been swept away by the surge."
Solomon Islands police commissioner John Lansley told Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the worst hit area was around Lata.
"We understand a part of the airstrip has been damaged, which is going to cause some issues in respect to getting relief aid out there, but that is being assessed at this moment," he said.
The quake struck at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday local time (8:23 p.m. Tuesday ET) and was followed by dozens of aftershocks including a 6.3 magnitude tremor at 5:35 p.m. local time (1:35 a.m. ET) Wednesday. A magnitude-6.0 quake struck at 12:55 a.m. Thursday local time.
USGS officials said the later shocks were "not at all surprising."
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued and later cancelled a tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, Wallis and Futana.
A tsunami watch was issued and later cancelled for Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Guam.
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Where is the grilling of Noblaba about this happening, or what the gov't will do to assist these poor people? Why no grilling about how this gov't should have done MORE, or should be doing more??
Oh wait, that's right. The DEMS are in power, and they can do no wrong. Unlike those big bad Rep's who get smeared by these lefty news networks who make it painfully obvious that they have a goal of smearing the Republican agenda to the point that the TRUTH does not show that the Democratic way is the ONLY way...
Not to worry though. I'm sure this lefty board will find a way to blame W anyway...
Just saying...
Sincerely,
A dis-satisfied customer and voter...
@nascar29fan, what? You didn't blame Clinton? heaven forbid, how did you miss doing that? When you baggers get over your CDS, I'm sure the libs will get over their BDS.
Just saying...
What?!? That doesn't even make sense....what does an earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Ocean have to do with which political party is in office? And to that end, don't we have pretty much the same split of government that we did during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy??
I think you should probably just go back to watching nascar. At least driving in circles is easy to understand. :)
Genius doesn't even know where The Solomon Islands are or that they are not part of the US
For all 3 of you: I am referring to the fact that when international disasters happen (both on land and water, here AND abroad), these lefty news medias (ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC) are biased FOR dems and against Reps, with their coverage. Look at ABC for example, with the War in Iraq. During W's era, all you saw every night on this network, (and others like CBS), were the american troop's death counts, anguish, and negatives about the hunt for OBL. Yet, not more than a week AFTER Noblaba's swearing in, there was hardly (if ANY) reports of troop deaths being counted, OR the bias smear about how the country was over in Iraq and Iran because of the oil fields, NOT the war on terror. All you saw on ABC and the lefties (as I call them), were positives about our military action going after OBL ONCE THE DEMS GAINED CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Little did we all know that the democratic gov't would wind up causing so much turmoil here.
And btw Anti-stupidity, you don't have to be a "Genius" to see the TRUTH about how Noblaba is single handedly driving america right into depression, and chaos...
Just saying...
Sincerely,
A dis-satisfied customer and voter...
Unrelated.
Unlike everybody in your hometown I bet...
Thoughts and prayers to all those affected. When you look at it, water is incredibly powerful. 3 feet may not seem like alot but look at how much destruction it caused. Anyone who's walked through a rip tide can tell you that even ankle deep water when enough movement happens can knock a person off balance and pull them in quite a way.
was it 3 feet? or 30 feet? please edit better next time.
Trouble reading their Ouno? The article said 3 feet. Does that make the comprehension easier for you.
i would worry about the big wave thats nothing to what a wave will do going around the world with no icecap to stop it
some of those barrier islands should watch out-someones calculations are off-big big mistake
O_o
Seriously...you think ice caps stop waves? You realize that ice is above the sea level and doesn't ACTUALLY interact with the oceans...right?
You are amazingly uneducated, about global warming and the ice caps. I don't even know where to start with this one....
Back in 2006, I had a very vivid dream about a Las Vegas earthquake.
Plus, I believe these islands are really at sea level.
Charlie7274- Exactly!!! They're just wanting/needing to get the story out ASAP!!! Pretty stupid ass posting by eric in oregon!!! So long as its pretty close & we know what is trying to be said its cool with me.
RIP to those who unfortunately lost thier lives!!
this is just horrible- i am praying very hard
Praying very hard will get you nothing. Stop wasting your time on fairy tales...
can,t do it -
you could use sound pulses from above the ocean and wave so disrupting it from above by applying pressure or more gravity -the wave can't form
wtf-
Or, you can loosen the tin foil hat and try to come up with a sound that can stop BILLIONS of gallons of water. STOP IT! Your dumb idea is just that!
D - Do you think that it is worth telling mlcadle that tsunami energy travels under the water surface by and large, and only rises up when it meets land? Nevermind, he wouldn't comprehend that anyway...
what if you found a gas pocket under an island you won't want to pop it -it would flip
islands float -they are not secured
an obvious troll is obvious...
Seriously??? LOL WOW you must be blonde!
Whether it is Sandy the superstorm or Tsunami caused by earthquakes at sea, the effects are still the same when it comes to water-caused destructions and will be more near the shorelines or on islands than mainland.
The Bible says,God can't sin,but men can,men are not God.
Jesus says,my Kingdom is not of this world,the reality of it is that this
world is filled with sin.Jesus is not just concerned about American children,but
all the children of the world,and wars kill innocent children,even by
Drones.This happens because wars are legal in the eye's of men,but not in the
eye's of God.Wars contribute to poverty,and children are the most vulnerable for
poverty in wars. We want to ban assault weapons of wars here on our streets,but
we use them in wars killing innocent children on the streets of other
countries.We don't want to cut war budgets,but we cut food stamp budgets that
feed children here in our country.In the Bible Jesus says,if you do it to one of
the little children,you do it to me,Jesus was talking about all the children of
the world,not just our children.
wow 3ft wave, what would a 60 ft wave do i wonder? total devastation i would imagine.
Al-3017247 (comment #40)- It looks to me like you posted to the wrong article. This news article has nothing to do with feeding children, but rather has to do with an earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
okay, this is 2013. why cant we get decent footage with the technology that everyone has on their phone. They can get better footage of Tom Cruise on a private yacht. No wonder they're getting ready to fire Matt Lauer. The cocky weatherman needs to go too.
The Fear Mongars are out again. Watch out for the tsunami!!! Gotta count how many are dead!!! Get ready world, a tsunami is coming your way!!!! Ooooh!!!!
This is the second major earthquake & tsunami to cause death and destruction in the Solomon Islands since 2007. At some point the people there out are going to put two and two together and figure out that you can't keep capturing and slaughtering hundred of dolphins every year there and not suffer consequences. What goes around comes around. Mother nature does not appreciate certain Solomon Islands tribal fisherman's annhilation and profiting off the dolphins and she ALWAYS gets last word.
@akguy
Thank you for the description. I was having trouble wrapping my head around a 3 foot wave doing that much damage, as I was just standing in 3 foot waves a few weeks ago in the Caribbean. The article also says "3 foot wave" I think that is part of the mis-understanding amoung people, poor choice of words. Your description makes much more sense. Thanks for helping me get my head around it. :-)
A 3 foot tsunami is dangerous... if you're a dwarf.
Your a sh!t for brains...
I think it's obvious that people who don't think a 3-foot tsunami is serious have no understanding of tsunamis. It's not a "wave". Waves rear up, then dissipate and go away. A tsunami is a continuous wall of water, pushing its way toward shore, with millions upon millions of gallons of water behind it. It doesn't just wash over like a wave at the beach. It's a completely different animal. Have you not ever seen a one-foot flood surge pick up and move a heavy vehicle? It's like a gigantic slab of water, three feet above the regular sea level, but it just doesn't stop coming. When you factor in that most tropical houses and buildings, especially in poorer island countries, are not built out of what Westerners think of usual building materials, you can see the devastating effects that much water may have. Also add that many of the island countries have no tsunami warning system, so the surges take people by complete surprise. Thoughts go out to the people of the Solomons.