Disaster relief agencies were scrambling on Thursday to reach tsunami-hit villages in the Solomon Islands, warning the death toll following a powerful 8.0-magnitude quake is likely to rise.
Officials said six people were confirmed dead after Wednesday’s quake generated a wave that swamped coastal communities on the island of Ndende in the eastern Solomons, triggering fears of a more widespread destructive tsunami.
Aid agency World Vision said some houses in the town of Venga were shifted 10 metres by the surge of water and 95 per cent of homes in Nela village were washed away.
“I’m currently walking through one community and I’m knee-deep in water,” World Vision emergency co-ordinator Jeremiah Tabua said. “I can see a number of houses that have been swept away by the surge.”
The Solomon Islands Red Cross said the remoteness of the disaster zone, more than 600 kilometres from the capital Honiara, was hindering relief efforts, with the island’s airstrip closed due to debris on the runway.
Red Cross disaster manager Cameron Vudi said reconnaissance flights would be made over the island on Thursday to assess the scale of the damage but initial reports indicated at least 460 homes had been destroyed.