Measuring 8.0 on the Richter-scale...

Thursday Lunchtime... I've added a few photos showing some of the damage. Must admit that when I wrote the last post I wasn't fully aware of the scale of the disaster, and by no means expected the Solomon Islands to make front page news around the world (as it did in Spain at least, I'm reliably informed). Here in the Solos people were for the most part completely unaware that the country was being talked about. Which is just as well really, as once it became clear that this was no repeat of the Asian Tsunami (the scale of which was quite simply unbelievable), the momentary spotlight of the world's media disappeared just as quickly leaving the country to pick up the pieces, hold memorials for loved ones lost, and try to prevent disease from claiming more lives. This event will no doubt also make it even harder for the Solos to lure the lucrative tourist dollar away from neighbours such as Fiji and Vanuatu, with the "disaster-struck" tag added to the "violence-ravaged" tag that already hangs like a millstone around our necks.

But thank you everyone who inundated me with emails regarding my safety. Sorry for the brief replies, but was a full morning's task convincing everyone I was still alive. And Happy Easter to you all. Enjoy those choccy eggs, and the daffs and the (hopefully) sunny clear spring weekend. But if you get a moment, spare a thought too for the poor Solomanders in the Western Province, camped out in the bush with no water, little food and no home to which they can return.

It's not often that the Solomon Islands makes international news, but this morning I noticed the following story on The Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/naturaldisasters/story/0,,2048180,00.html

In case anyone happened to read it, and in the even more unlikely event that they're worried, Honiara was not damaged by the earthquake, and not affected by the Tsunami that followed. Apparently the earthquake shook the Central Bank quite vigorously for five minutes, and caused those staff here early to flee outside. At 7.39am though, I was standing in the back of a truck bouncing my way to work, and an 8.0 Richter-scale earthquake couldn't compete with the bumps of the Mbokona road.

Out in the Western Province where the epicentre was, things look pretty bad however. The earthquake triggered a Tsunami, and water surged several hundreds of metres inland, with reports of many houses washed away. Fortunately there have been few deaths yet reported, but considering the fact that many of the islands in those parts have no communication at the best of times, little is yet known. Quite a large number of colleagues are from the Western province, and with all phone lines down they've been on the CBSI radio all morning trying to contact their families. At least one has lost a family member, and the mood is pretty sombre. Unlike many government staff who voluntarily gave themselves a day off, here at CBSI we're all still working, and I must go now to ponder my next task... drafting the Central Bank monetary policy stance for 2007.