6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2007
NATURAL DISASTER
Quake shakes South Pacific
Powerful earthquake hits the Solomon Islands leading police to warn citizens of tsunami winds
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ONIARA, Solomon Islands — A powerful earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands on Monday, sending a tsunami wave crashing into villages on the country's west coast and leaving at least four people missing, officials said.
The quake, measured at mag
nitude 7.6 and 8.1, triggered tsunami warnings throughout the South Pacific and as far north as Hawaii, though officials cancelled the alert after the danger period passed.
Police in the
police in the western town of Gizo reported a wave several yards high crashing ashore, shortly before communications with the two police stations in the town were cut, said Sgt. Godfrey Abiah in the capital, Honiara.
"There was 10 feet of water rushing through town.There's been damage."
Harry Wickham, a hotel worker in Gizo, told New Zealand television many buildings along the waterfront had been damaged.
"There was 10 feet of water rushing through town. There's been damage," he said.
Julian McLeod of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office said there were unconfirmed reports that two villages in the country's far west were flooded.
HARRY WICKHAM Hotel worker
buildings and property.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck at 7:39 a.m. about 6 miles beneath the sea floor, 217 miles northwest of Honiara.
"Two villages were reported to have been completely inundated," McLeod told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We have received reports of four people missing."
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported the quake at magnitude 8.1, and said a temblor of that strength
National broadcaster Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. said there was "serious damage" in Gizo and that the nearby town of Munda had also suffered "some damage" to
could cause
could cause a destructive tsunami and issued a warning bulletin for the Solomon Islands and neighboring Papua New Guinea.
It ordered a lower-level "tsu-ami watch" for other places,
including most South Pacific countries, but later cancelled the alert. The center said a 6-inch wave had been reported in Honiara.
Abiah said police in Gizo had been warning residents to move to higher ground away from the coast when the tsunami hit. Communications were lost soon afterward.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Deli Oso, said the quake was felt in Honiara but there were no reports of any damage.
"We have lost radio contact with the two police stations down there and we're not getting any clear picture from down there," he told The Associated Press by telephone.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also set the earthquake's magnitude at 8.1, but said it had detected no tsunami threat for Australia's northeast coast.
"At this stage, the warning remains current but we have not detected anything abnormal!" said spokesman Peter jarrott.
CONTROVERSIAL PUBLICITY
Two of 15 captured British soldiers point to a map of the Persian Gulf in footage aired on Iran's official Arabic-language television channel Sunday. Al-Alam TV said the two sailors were identifying where their boat crossed into Iranian waters on March 23, leading to their capture. Negotiations continue between Britain and Iran who insist the sailors had trespassed into its waters, but Britain says the team was in Iraq waters.
Captured sailors apologize
Iranian television stations air statements from Britons who were seized in the Persian Gulf
BY NASSER KARIMI ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state television aired new video Sunday showing two of the 15 captured British sailors pointing to a spot on a map of the Persian Gulf where they were seized and acknowledging it was in Iranian territorial waters.
Britain's Foreign Office immediately denounced the video, saying it was "completely unacceptable for these pictures to be shown on TV".
Adding to tensions between the two countries, about 200 angry Iranian youths chanting "Death to Britain" and "Death to America" rework rocks and firecrackers at the
British Embassy and tried to rush the compound but were held back by police.
The 15 Britons were detained by Iranian naval units on March 23 while patrolling for smugglers as part of a U.N.-mandated force monitoring the Persian Gulf. They were seized by Iranian naval units near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran. Iran insists the sailors illegally entered its waters, but Britain says the team was in Iraqi waters at the time of their capture.
The captives first appeared on the state-run Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam in separate video clips looking relaxed in military fatigues and pointing at the same map of the Persian Gulf.
The newscaster said the two had confessed to "illegally" trespassing in Iranian waters.
Earlier on Sunday, British Defense Secretary Des Browne said his government was in "direct, bilateral communication with the Iranians."
"I'd like to say to the Iranian people, I can understand why you are so angry about our intrusion into your waters," he said.
"And so far we have been treated very well by all the people here."
CAPT. CHRIS AIR Royal Marine
tion was where he and the 14 other were arrested.
nels has not been explained. But it appears to be an attempt to seek support from Arabs in Iraq and the Gulf states, where many resent Britain's military deployment in Iraq and its historical role as a colonial power in the region.
Al-Alam broadcasted longer videos of the Britons earlier this week, including footage on Friday
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of captured marine Nathan Thomas Summers apologizing for entering Iranian waters "without permission" and admitting to trespassing in Iranian waters.
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The first sailor, who was identified as Royal Marine Capt. Chris Air, pointed with a pen to a location on the map where he said two boats left a warship of the U.S.led coalition in Iraq around 8:30 a.m. on March 23. He said the seven marines and eight navy sailors were captured around 10 a.m.
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"And so far we have been treated very well by all the people here. They have looked after us and made sure there's been enough food and we've been treated very well by them so we thank them for that."
A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said Browne was referring to letters and other contacts between diplomats, rather than any new face-to-face talks.
Browne. on
Pointing to the map, he said "we were seized apparently at this point here on their maps and on the GPS they've shown us, which is inside Iranian territorial waters."
ALL SALES FINAL
The second sailor, identified as Lt. Felix Carman, pointed to an area on the map and said that loca-
He was shown sitting with another serviceman and the female British sailor Faye Turney against a floral curtain. Both servicemen wore camouflage fatigues with a Royal Navy label on their chests and a little British flag stitched to their left sleeves.
Al-Alam also aired video on Wednesday showing Turney wearing a headscarf and saying: "Obviously we trespassed."
Britain has denounced the videos, calling them "propaganda" and "outrageous."
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett appeared to soften rhetoric against Iran Saturday _ though she stopped far short of an apology.
Iran has also made public three letters purportedly written by Turney. The last letter contained an apology.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called world powers "arrogant" for refusing to apologize.
a visit to Afghanistan, said Britain had "the support of almost the whole international community" in calling for the release of its personnel.
Iran's decision to air three videos on its Arabic-language TV channel, rather than on its main Farsi chan-
President Bush on Saturday demanded the release of the 15 "hostages." He said they were innocent and called their capture "inexcusable behavior."
"I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen," Beckett said during a visit to Germany. "What we want is a way out of it."
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