Residents of the Solomons Islands have told of terrifying scenes following the 8.1-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that washed ashore in its wake, wiping out homes and businesses on the shore.
There are unconfirmed reports of eight deaths, including six children, officials said, and a rise in the toll is expected.
The country's Prime Minister's office reports that at least six people have been killed and several are missing as "10-metre-high waves continue to crash [on] coastal villages".
Reports from police at Gizo - the capital of the western province and a popular destination for divers - said water now completely covered the lower areas of the town, while waves continued to pound the nearby towns of Noro and Munda.
About 50 homes in Gizo - just 45 kilometres from the centre of the quake - had reportedly been flattened and boats had been washed into the town.
There were reports that large waves had penetrated 500 metres inland, wiping out villages.
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Some residents have been reported missing from Gizo, which has a population of about 20,000, and the hospital has been damaged.
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Robert Iroga, editor of the Solomon Star newspaper, said it was too early to put a death toll on the disaster but that he had received reports from locals that bodies were "floating in the sea" in one area.
He said reports indicated one island close to the provincial airport had been totally covered by the wave.
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Iroga, who is based in Honiara, said thousands of people could be affected by the tsunami.
"It's a time of year when a lot of people are staying in the villages, the schools are on a break," he told ABC radio.
...Ms Kennedy said there was no early warning about the tsunami.
Everyone from the village had taken refuge on top of the hill, she said.
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"It took all the houses down, the houses that are near the shore."
Ms Kennedy said the hospital is still being evacuated to higher ground.
"All the patients in the hospital, now a truck is giving them a lift up to the top of the hill.''
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Danny Kennedy, the owner of the dive shop, estimated the height of the wave at 3 metres.
"I'm driving down the street — there are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down," Mr Kennedy said.
"We're just trying to mobilise water and food, and shelter for people at the moment because . . . in the town alone there's going to be between 2000 and 3000 homeless. It's not a very good scene at the moment.''
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"Some villages are completely wiped out," National Disaster Council chairman Fred Fakari told journalists in the capital Honiara this afternoon.
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The disaster council decided not to declare a state of emergency following a meeting because of the lack of information, Fakari said.
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Phone lines and electricity were down in the Western Province capital of Gizo, which was just 45km from the centre of the quake, hampering efforts to find out the extent of the damage.
There was still no idea about damage or casualties in more isolated areas in the west, he said. A Solomons government patrol boat was being sent from Honiara to assess the situation.
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The Pacific nation's western province is its wealthiest, generating revenue from the thousands of tourists — many of them Australian and New Zealanders — who flock to the resorts and beaches.
"The resorts and hotels and other tourism-related facilities might be seriously affected," Mr Iroga said.
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There were also fears of disease outbreaks following the devastation left by the tsunami, Mr Iroga said.
Many Gizo residents drew their water supply from wells which have been flooded by the massive wave.
"We need urgent assistance from abroad as we can't fund (the response to) this sort of tragedy and a disaster of this magnitude."
From the capital Honiara, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation said residents on Simbo island had reported waves travelling up to 200 metres inland, damaging homes.
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