|
| ||||||
| ||||||
|
|
Save the Children Responds to the Deadly Tsunami in the Solomon Islands
 |
An aerial view of damage after a tsunami and an earthquake hit the Solomon Islands, April 3, 2007. (Copyright: Reuters / Reuters TV, courtesy www.alertnet.org) |
Westport, CT (April 3, 2007) — Save the Children is working to provide relief to families and children left homeless by a deadly tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands Monday morning.
The agency — which has extensive health, education and child protection programs in the affected area — has sent a team to the island along with urgently needed supplies. The Save the Children team will assess the status of families and work to ensure that children are protected as the region recovers from the tsunami.
Save the Children has been working in the Solomon Islands for more than 20 years and reports that its 45 staff members there are safe.
A magnitude-8.1 earthquake, with its epicenter 25 miles from the western island of Gizo, triggered a large tsunami early Monday that killed at least 28 people — among them children — and left widespread destruction on the island, including in the large town of Gizo. Numerous aftershocks continue to rock the area.
Government officials say that at least 5,000 people have been affected by the disaster. An estimated 900 homes have been damaged on Gizo. Destruction is hampering relief efforts and damage assessments.
The Solomon Islands are located on the seismically volatile “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent. It is the same region that experienced the deadly South Asia tsunami in 2004. Learn more.
