14 Dec 2016

First confirmed fatality after Solomons quakes

From , 4:04 pm on 14 December 2016

An eleven year old girl who died when a building collapsed on her is the first confirmed victim of the recent earthquakes in Solomon Islands.

Disaster authorities in the country are only now beginning to reach affected communities in isolated parts of the Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira and Ulawa Provinces.

The girl who died on Guadalcanal is the only reported casualty so far although at least 7000 people are believed to have been affected by the quakes with more than 200 buildings damaged or destroyed, including 11 schools and a health clinic.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off Makira Island in the early hours of Friday morning generating a small tsunami which also damaged several buildings.

There have been multiple aftershocks since the big quake including a 6.9 earthquake on Saturday morning which local NGOs said rattled the nerves of already shaken. communities.

The director of Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office Loti Yates spoke with Koroi Hawkins about the ongoing emergency response.

A family in Kirakira, narrowly escaped with their lives after the wall of their family home collapsed during the 7.8 earthquake which hit Solomon Islands on 9 December, 2016.

A family in Kirakira, narrowly escaped with their lives after the wall of their family home collapsed during the 7.8 earthquake which hit Solomon Islands on 9 December, 2016. Photo: World Vision / Gray Nako