Honiara (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Aid is trickling through to the Solomon Islands, hit three days ago by a violent tsunami, which so far has left 30 people dead. Gizo airport, the main town of the western province worst affected by the giant wave is still closed: in order to get tents, water and food through to survivors relief groups are forced to rely on helicopters or small boats, slowing down the aid operation.
This morning a new quake shook the island chain marking 6 on the Richter scale, the latest in a series of tremors to hit the area since the April 2 seaquake generated a tsunami which reached 5 meters in height and destroyed over 13 villages, forcing 5 thousand people to flee to high ground. The local population is terrified and people are refusing to return to the valleys. The Red Cross estimates that there are over 2 thousand homeless. The greatest risk now is that diseases such as malaria will begin to spread.
Australia, New Zealand, Usa, The International Red Cross and the United Nations have all offered aid, but so far no concrete relief plan has been announced. The Solomon disaster has resurrected the debate surrounding the efficiency of the million dollar tsunami early warning system installed in the aftermath of the catastrophic December 26 2004 tsunami. US experts explain that “when a tsunami generates itself in quick succession to a quake, the alarm system is almost useless. It would be far more useful to concentrate resources on building up emergency response mechanisms or on educating populations at risk to recognise danger signs and how to put themselves in safety”.