A powerful undersea earthquake unleashed a tsunami that pounded the Solomon Islands on Monday, destroying entire villages and killing at least 15 people, with the toll expected to rise, officials said.
The wall of water triggered by the 8.0-magnitude quake - which witnesses said was up to five metres (16.5 feet) high - swamped towns, flattened homes, and sparked panic among residents of the impoverished South Pacific state. "My heart goes out to all of you in this very trying time," Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in an address to the nation.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a regionwide warning immediately after the quake, stretching as far as Japan, but withdrew the alert when it became clear other countries would not be seriously affected. An earthquake off Indonesia's island of Sumatra in December 2004 spawned a tsunami that spread across the Indian Ocean, killing 220,000 people.
At least 15 people were killed in and around Gizo, the main town in Western Province and a popular tourist and diving spot about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Monday's quake epicentre, its provincial leader said.
Police said they had reports of at least 14 dead, 12 in the Gizo area and two elderly men in nearby Choiseul province. A helicopter and aircraft sent to assess the damage were diverted to ferry the injured to hospitals. A fuller assessment would emerge when they returned to the area Tuesday, police spokesman Mick Spinks said.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Canberra had made an initial offer of up to two million dollars (159 million US) in emergency and reconstruction assistance to the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands, 2,575 kilometres east of Australia, has a little over half a million people living on dozens of islands, although hundreds more are uninhabited.