SOLOMON ISLANDS – An 11-year old girl is the first confirmed fatality from the massive earthquakes which hit Solomon Islands last week.

Disaster authorities are only now reaching isolated parts of the affected provinces of Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira and Ulawa.

The girl died when a building collapsed on top of her on Guadalcanal after the 7.8 magnitude quake which struck on Friday.

National Disaster Management Office director Loti Yates said authorities were working with donor partners and international NGOs on the initial emergency response.

He said a decision on whether to request outside help would be made after a more detailed evaluation.

Yates said his biggest concern was the onset of the rainy season, which he said would pose additional risks.

“That is actually the biggest worry that we have – the more water that is absorbed into the ground that is already loose from the shocks, it will generate landslides.

“A lot of our people have already lost their homes,” Yates. said “We cannot allow them to live in tarpaulins for a long time. Tarpaulins are supposed to be just temporary.”

The secretary general of the Solomon Islands Red Cross Society Joanne Zoleveke said volunteers and staff are working with teams from the Solomon Islands government in remote locations and are reporting that there is more damage than first thought.

Two teams of trained emergency responders from the Solomon Islands Red Cross Society are on the ground in the remote provinces.

The teams specialising in water, sanitation and hygiene as well as emergency response, are assessing the needs of affected people in Makira and Malaita provinces and distributing emergency relief items.

They have distributed emergency aid for 180 families in Makira province and 100 families in South Malaita. The relief items were sent by boat and include tarpaulins, shelter toolkits and water containers.

The Red Cross has also sent a Nomad water purifying unit, generator, water pump and 5000-litre water bladder to Makira.

“At the moment, whilst we have teams on the ground distributing non-food items to the affected population, our focus is to get as much accurate data as possible from the initial damage assessment with a particular focus on shelter and water, sanitation and health,” Red Cross secretary general Zoleveke said.

Zoleveke says shelter will be an ongoing need and the Red Cross is looking to send more shelter materials on the next boat. She says there is still fear among the community.

“A lot of people are still scared because tremors are still continuing. Even in Honiara there are one or two each day.”

The Solomon Islands government estimates that almost 7000 people have been impacted by the earthquake.

In total, 191 houses have been destroyed and 114 damaged. Eleven schools and a medical clinic have also been damaged by the quake. Aftershocks are continuing.

- PNC sources