Panicked villagers are left with no choice except flee to higher grounds

Feb 6, 2013 06:53 GMT  ·  By

The news has broken that an 8.0 magnitude earthquake has hit the South Pacific, wiping out three villages and causing widespread panic.

Information made available to the public thus far says that the earthquake first and foremost affected the Santa Cruz islands in the Solomons, whose eastern regions were soon enough hit by a subsequent tsunami.

In the aftermath of these natural disasters, authorities were left with no choice except issue tsunami warnings for the island nations of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand and Hawaii.

Needless to say, local villagers were quick in taking refuge to higher grounds, hoping that this might help keep them safe. Daily Mail reports that, soon enough, some of the tsunami warnings issued by local authorities were canceled. More precisely, it was agreed upon that such warnings must first and foremost focus on the Solomons region.

This was because, according to researchers, the earthquake occurred at a considerable depth, meaning that it was highly unlikely that the tsunamis it might produce would be massive ones.

Thus, despite the fact that initial reports on this natural phenomenon argued that the earthquake had hit at a depth of 5.8 kilometers (roughly 3.6 miles), further investigations revealed that it had actually taken place at a depth of 28.7 kilometers (about 17.3 miles).

Needless to say, the people inhabiting these islands are yet to shake off their panic. More so seeing how, as a spokesman for the Lata Hospital on the main Santa Cruz island of Ndende explained, “We’ve been receiving news of entire villages being destroyed by the earthquake.”

Commenting on these recent events, a spokesperson in the Solomon Islands argued as follows: “People have been rushing to higher ground after hearing warnings on our radio.”

“We've been warned to be on standby for destructive waves within hours, as well as serious aftershocks,” the spokesperson went on to add.

Hopefully, more news on this topic will shortly follow.