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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Thank you Shahil for sharing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Cheers,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">sai<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="en-FJ" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Pdf-members <pdf-members-bounces@lists.pacificdisability.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Shahil Chand<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 24 November 2022 11:43 am<br>
<b>To:</b> pdf-members@lists.pacificdisability.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [PDF-members] Magnitude-7.0 Earthquake Rocked Solomon Islands<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">'Quite some time' after the Solomon Islands' earthquake, Savina was still waiting for information<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Pacific Beat /
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">By Prianka Srinivasan and Melissa Maykin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Posted 19h ago19 hours ago<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">A Solomon Islands woman sitting in a bright cafe raising her right arm in solidarity expression
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Advocate Savina Nongebatu says people with disabilities are often left behind. (Facebook: Pacific Women Lead)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">When a powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Solomon Islands on Tuesday, sending items "flying around the house", Honiara woman Savina Nongebatu was desperate to find out if she was in
danger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Key points:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Disability advocate Savina Nongebatu says schools used as shelters in Solomon Islands are not accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">She says emergency alerts need to be sent quicker
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">The magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Guadalcanal on Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">But sometime later, Ms Nongebatu, who uses a wheelchair, was still in the dark about what was happening.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"Yesterday was quite disappointing for me as I was waiting for some information, and it didn't come until quite sometime later," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"People in the village were panicking, they were running – they tend to leave those with disabilities behind, not always by choice but because of their panicked state."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">The first quake hit just off the south-west coast at 1pm local time according to the US Geological Survey, triggering a tsunami warning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">The second quake, with a magnitude of 6.0, was recorded nearby 30 minutes later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service later said there was no tsunami threat, but warned about unusual sea currents on the coast.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">According to reports, the quake damaged churches, houses and led to landslides in the north-west.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">But there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">When schools become shelters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu advocates for people with disabilities in Solomon Islands and said it was often hard to get appropriate assistance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"It has always been difficult for people with disabilities to access services," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"To put it plainly, Honiara doesn't have a shelter so usually when we have disasters like this, schools become a place for shelter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"Most of these schools are not accessible for people like me who use wheelchairs, and my friends who are blind and deaf."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu said she wanted to see improvements in communications during emergencies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"It would have been great to get text messages sent as soon as disaster hits, because people with disabilities have phones, their families with phones can tell them there has been an earthquake
and to evacuate," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">a car with its windscreen broken and bonnet bust up from fallen masonry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">A car damaged by falling masonry from a building in Honiara.(Supplied: Adilah Dolaiano)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"Especially for people with disabilities, we need assistance — if not from our families, then from a service provider."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, which sends alerts on behalf of the government, has been contacted for comment.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu said Tuesday's earthquake was so powerful it reminded her of a week-long series of earthquakes that rattled Guadalcanal in 1977, when she was just a young girl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"I was at home [yesterday] … my TV screen fell on the floor and bits of pieces of things went flying around the house," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">"It was a really scary moment for all of us."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial">Source: <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-23/calls-for-better-support-after-solomon-islands-earthquake/101687320">
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-23/calls-for-better-support-after-solomon-islands-earthquake/101687320</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Vinaka and Kind Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Shahil Chand</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D"> <b>| IT Officer</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Pacific Disability Forum | Ground Floor, Kadavu House, Victoria Parade<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">GPO Box 18458 Suva, Fiji<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Phone (landline): (+679) 7730200, 3312008<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Phone (mobile): (+679) 8990128 | Fax: (+679) 3310469<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Website: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black"><a href="http://www.pacificdisability.org/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color:#954F72">www.pacificdisability.org</span></a></span><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black">
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Organisation in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Commission since 2012.</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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