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MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
HONIARA SB 9.4S 160.0E 2235Z 0.14M = 0.5FT 70MIN
VANUATU VU 17.8S 168.3E 2351Z 0.11M = 0.4FT 26MIN

LAT - LATITUDE (N=NORTH, S=SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E=EAST, W=WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z = UTC = GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER AND COULD ALSO BE A THREAT TO MORE DISTANT COASTS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2007/pacific.2007.04.02.000828.txt

BBC Report:

Tsunami strikes Solomon Islands

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Last Updated: Monday, 2 April 2007, 00:37 GMT 01:37 UK

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Tsunami strikes Solomon Islands

A tsunami has swept ashore in the Solomon Islands following a strong undersea earthquake in the South Pacific Ocean.

Waves said to be several metres high crashed into some of the Solomons' western islands. There were unconfirmed reports of people missing.

Tsunami warnings were also issued for Papua New Guinea, north-east Australia, and some other Pacific islands.

The quake measured 8.0 and hit at 0740 local time on Monday (2040 GMT Sunday).

It struck 345km (215 miles) north-west of the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara, north-east of Australia, the US Geological Survey said, at a depth of 10km (six miles) below the surface.

Sergeant Godfrey Abiah of the Solomons police force said the waves had hit the town of Gizo, in the New Georgia Islands region in the west of the Solomons, which was only 45km (25 miles) from the epicentre of the quake.

There was 10ft of water rushing through town

Harry Wickham
Hotel worker, Gizo

He said police in Gizo had been urging people to leave coastal areas when the tsunami hit, but communications were lost soon afterwards.

"We have lost radio contact with the two police stations down there and we're not getting any clear picture," he told The Associated Press.

Julian McLeod, a Solomon Islands disaster management official, said: "Two villages were reported to have been completely inundated.

"We have received reports of four people missing."

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that at least three people had been killed.

Evacuation

Harry Wickham, a hotel worker in Gizo, told New Zealand television by phone that many buildings along the water front had been damaged.

"There was 10ft of water rushing through town," he said.

Britain's deputy high commissioner in Honiara told the BBC that four people were missing from Mono Island. He said all the residents of Taro Island had been evacuated.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a much smaller wave, of 15cm (6in) had been reported in Honiara.

The centre initially issued a warning for all countries in the South Pacific region.

Later it was downscaled, but authorities in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, north-eastern Australia, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Fiji, were being advised to stay on alert.

Experts in Japan and Hawaii were also monitoring the situation.