THE Australian government has supported Solomon Islands after Friday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake by offering more than SBD$290, 000 in relief efforts.
A statement from the Australian High Commission office in Honiara yesterday said Australian government is on standby to help.
It has also expressed condolences to Solomon Islands.
The statement added, the Solomon Islands Government is leading the response efforts and has accepted Australia’s initial offer of up to AUD$50,000 (SBD$292,000) to support needs assessments and the distribution of relief supplied to affected islands.
“Australia is also taking steps to deploy an Australian expert to support efforts to assess damage to local infrastructure.”
On Friday, Australia helped the Solomon Islands Government conduct an immediate aerial assessment of the damaged areas.
The Australian Government increased emergency funding in 2016-17 for disaster response efforts, particularly in the Pacific region which is vulnerable to natural disasters.
Australia also supports Pacific neighbours in preparing for disasters through capacity building and prepositioning supplies.
The Australian Government’s ongoing support to Solomon Islands includes technical experts deployed to the National Disaster Management Office to prepare for and respond to earthquakes and other disasters.
The Eastern part of the country including Honiara got a scary early morning wake-up alarm when a powerful 7.8 struck at 4.38am on Friday morning, sending families out of their homes.
The quake hit hard on Kirakira, the provincial capital of Makira-Ulawa Province.
The earthquake caused damages to buildings, including homes, a hospital, a church, the World Vision office and cut off the town’s power supply.
The quake hit less than 30 kilometres off the island of Makira and around 200 kilometres from Honiara.
A tsunami warning was issued but later lifted.
The national government through the national disaster management office (NDMO), Solomon Islands Red Cross and World Vision have been working together to provide relief assistance to the victims.
Apart from Makira several homes in the South part of Malaita have also been affected.
