Landslides and a tsunami triggered by yesterdays quake in the South Pacific's Solomon Islands have left 1000 people homeless. Aftershocks continued today after Monday's quakes, the largest of which was magnitude 7.2. This quake led to a tsunami with waves of 8 feet in some areas. It led to widespread panic, but officials said there had been no reports of serious injury or deaths. About 200 houses were destroyed on remote Rendova island, some 190 miles from the capital Honiara, officials said. Aerial photographs taken from police helicopters today showed debris littering the coast, and scars from landslides inland. The Police commissioner said that the lack of casualties was probably because people moved to higher ground. The USGS said the 2 quakes, the 2nd of which measured 6.5, struck about 55 miles from the small island of Ghizo, near Rendova. An 8.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in the same area nearly 3 years ago killed more than 50 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands. Rendova has a population of about 3600 and Unicef is rebuilding 19 schools there following the 2007 tsunami.
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