Coral Reefs Damaged from recent 8.0 Earthquake in the Solomon Islands
Posted April 9th, 2007 by Ryan
In the Solomon islands, coral reefs were heavily damaged from a recent 8.0 scale earthquake in the region. In an instant, the grinding of the Earth’s tectonic plates in the 8.0 magnitude earthquake Monday forced the island of Ranongga up three metres (10 foot).
Submerged reefs that once attracted scuba divers from around the globe lie exposed and dying after the quake raised the mountainous landmass, which is 32-kilometres (20-miles) long and 8-kilometres (5-miles) wide. Corals that used to form an underwater wonderland of iridescent blues, greens and reds now bleach under the sun, transforming into a barren moonscape surrounding the island. The stench of rotting fish and other marine life stranded on the reefs when the seas receded is overwhelming and the once vibrant coral is dry and crunches underfoot.
Dazed villagers stand on the shoreline, still coming to terms with the cataclysmic shift that changed the geography of their island forever, pushing the shoreline out to sea by up to 70 metres.
A new live rock supply? Hehe…
No, but that really is a tragedy. There isn’t enough reef around the earth to have this sort of thing happening.
stuff like this is always sad to see, I get sad one one of my fish or inverts dies. I cant imagine this much of a loss in an already depleating ecosystem. it’s truely tragic.
Sad it is. I can just imagine the smell of 5 tons of rotting live rock.
It is a total tragedy that these terrific reefs are dying. I mourn their loss but wish to save some things in my tank if possible.
Would it be immoral if somebody could allow us hobbiests to try to save these creatures? i would be willing to pay shipping to save something from this reef.
All the same it is a shame. Might as well try to save something.
Oops! It would be too late now anyway. Too bad!