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HONIARA - Thousands of people left homeless by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands may not get help for another two days, the government warned, as rescuers struggled to reach remote villages.
Some islands are still out of contact and dozens of villages unreachable by road after Monday's disaster in the South Pacific nation that killed at least 28 people.
Officials have declared an emergency and say the death toll will rise with an increasing risk of disease, including malaria.
The UN office for humanitarian affairs in Geneva, OCHA, cited the Nation Disaster Council in the Solomons in putting the death toll at 34, with several dozen missing.
Up to 5,400 people were homeless and in urgent need of food, water and shelter, but it could take until Friday to reach them, government spokesman George Herming said.
Strong aftershocks have continued since the magnitude 8 quake -- including one of magnitude 6 early on Wednesday -- with many residents too scared to leave makeshift shelters in the hills.
"I think the thing right now is water, water and tents. People are still up in the bush and are reluctant to go back to the villages," Solomon Islands Red Cross Secretary General Charles Kelly said.
Some coastal areas are still inundated, with buildings sucked into the sea by the tsunami and the government has declared a disaster in affected areas. Aerial patrols reported bodies could still be seen floating.
The Red Cross appealed for the homeless to return to their villages, saying sanitation problems were emerging in hilltop refugee camps where many are sleeping under the stars.
Even tarpaulins are in short supply in a country wracked by communal violence in recent years and where only a quarter hold jobs.
International peacekeepers, stationed in the country since 2003, evacuated several injured people to hospital in the capital, Honiara.
Australia and New Zealand have offered US$2 million in aid, and around 100 peacekeepers that arrived on Wednesday brought with them water, food rations, shelter and other relief supplies.
A New Zealand air force Hercules carrying water containers, blankets, tarpaulins, food and lamps also arrived in the islands, with supplies to be ferried by helicopter and boat to the worst-hit areas.
A UN Disaster and Assessment Coordination (UNDAC) team has been deployed to the Solomon Islands and is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.
The National Disaster Council estimated that between 900 and 2,500 houses have been destroyed. The tsunami caused widespread damage to homes constructed from traditional materials, while the earthquake caused more damage to sturdily-constructed buildings.
Food markets are reportedly closed, fishing disrupted and domestic farming damaged. Shops have stocks of food, but have remained closed since the disaster took place, the OCHA report said.
The Solomons earns some money from small dive resorts but most residents live on subsistence agriculture and fishing, scattered through a string of small islands along the Pacific's "Ring of Fire", where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
- REUTERS
