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Tidal wave 'flattens homes'
22/05/2007 14:10 - (SA)
Port Moresby - Thousands of villagers fled their homes in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea after a volcanic eruption triggered a tidal wave that flattened homes and sowed panic among residents, reports said on Tuesday.
No casualties were reported, but ocean surges destroyed four houses and a boat after a volcano on Ritter Island exploded into life at the weekend spewing ash and smoke over islands off eastern Morobe province, The National newspaper said.
"Tidal waves created by the eruption smashed into Kabi and Kampalap villages on the eastern part of Siassi Island, flattening four houses and sending about 10 000 local villagers fleeing to the hills for safety," the paper said.
But the Australian Associated Press in Port Moresby quoted local officials as saying between 1 ,500 and 2 000 people from two villages had moved to higher ground fearing tsunamis might strike.
"They reported waves and the level of the sea rising," the agency quoted provincial Disaster and Emergency director Roy Kamen as saying.
Massive tsunamis
"They still hear rumbling noises and see smoke coming out of the island and had a few tremors last night."
Ritter and Siassi islands lie between the mainland of Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain.
The disaster-prone nation's Rabaul Volcanological Observatory and the Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby however did not pick up indicative seismic activity from the eruption on their equipment.
Minor eruptions occurred on the 140-metre-high uninhabited Ritter Island in 1972 and 1974.
In 1888 half the island collapsed in an eruption that triggered massive tsunamis that claimed an estimated 3 000 lives on surroundings islands and Papua New Guinea's mainland.
On April 2 an 8.0 magnitude quake spawned a tsunami in the northwest Solomon Islands, south of Papua New Guinea, killing 52 people and leaving thousands homeless.
Many are still camped on higher ground above their destroyed seaside homes as aftershocks measuring above 5.0 magnitude continue to shake the region.
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