January 3, 2010 Tsunami: Solomon Islands

Reference #6085:

Photographs taken from police helicopters Tuesday showed debris lining the foreshore and damaged houses on the coasts of Rendova and Tetepare, as well as deep scars on hills and cliffs caused by landslides, he said. One village, Retavo, home to about 20 people, was reportedly completely inundated by a wall of sea water up to 10 feet (3 meters) high, but Makaa said no deaths or injuries had been reported there. Another disaster management official, Loti Yates, said earlier at least 16 houses were destroyed and 32 damaged in Baniata village on Rendova, an island some 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital, Honiara, where about 3,600 people live.

Reference #9465:

Though spatially limited, the local tsunami wave heights up to 7 m were comparable to the much larger adjacent 2007 MW 8.1 earthquake.

Significant variations in tsunami impact was observed across Rendova and Tetepare Islands, with a maximum flow depth (7.5 m) and run-up (7 m) on the southern shores of Rendova (Fig. 3). Fortunately only two villages, Mbaniata and Retavo (299 and 10 inhabitants, respectively), were significantly inundated (up to 150 m from the coast), and only two minor injuries occurred while villagers were evacuating because of strong ground shaking. In Mbaniata 16 houses (compared to only four in 2007) and the entire village of Retavo were destroyed (Fig. S2). Tsunami wave heights from the 2010 event exceeded those from 2007 across most of the two islands. Further away, tsunami run-up over 1mwas documented at South Island (50 km east) and at Simbo Island (90 km west). Smaller tsunami waves (<1m) were observed throughout the New Georgia group including the south shores of Ranongga and Ghizo Islands.

At most locations, the first wave arrived within 10 min of the earthquake. A second smaller wave shortly followed within another 10 min along the south coast of Rendova.