9 Feb 2013

Flight over remote islands in Solomons shows no major damage

12:03 pm on 9 February 2013

World Vision says it has been able to survey remote villages in Solomon Islands which have been isolated since Wednesday's 8.0 earthquake and tsunami and they appear to have fared well.

Ten people are dead and thousands remain without shelter following Wednesday's powerful earthquake and tsunami.

There had been fears of widespread destruction because many of the villages are on very low level islands.

World Vision's Solomon Islands programme director Andrew Catford says a flight over the outer islands late yesterday showed no sign of major damage.

He says it seems appears much of the damage from the quake and the tsunami has been in the town of Lata, on the far eastern island of Santa Cruz.

Mr Catford says a police boat from the Solomon's capital Honiara that's carrying urgent supplies docked in Lata this morning.

It waited at sea last night because of fears two large aftershocks overnight would spark a tsunami.

Mr Catford says there appears to have been little damage from the overnight quakes which sent many people heading for higher ground in case a tsunami came.