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More than 6400 people on Santa Cruz Islands 500km east of Honiara are coming to terms with devastation caused by the double disaster of an earthquake and tsunami on February 6.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 occurred 33km southwest of the Santa Cruz Islands at an ocean depth of 28.7km, generating tsunami waves that engulfed the Nende Island’s western shores where the main provincial town of Lata is located.
Rachel Lano from Venga village said,”We’re living under tarpaulins, but we have had lots of rain and the tarpaulins can leak,” she said. “We have a problem with water and sanitation and we’re just living on rice. We are too afraid to go down to our gardens and get vegetables.”
According to World Vision, which has been on the ground assisting with relief work, the west coast of the island has been worst affected, many homes washed away. Elsewhere on the island, communities are suffering the effects of the earthquake and landslides which have destroyed food gardens and contaminated water sources.
More than 3000 people have been displaced and many remain under temporary shelter. Many villagers are hesitant to return to coastal areas in the middle of the cyclone season, fearing further damage before the wet season finishes.
George Baragamu, the National Distaster Management Office chief operations officer, told the Auckland’s Weekend Herald the province was still an active disaster area, but with assessments done the Government was now planning for the recovery phase.
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News category: Asia Pacific.
