Groups of workers from the Public Works Department were actively engaged in clearing and fixing damaged and obstructed roads on Taveuni after Fiji experienced its most powerful earthquake in 1979.
The quake, according to an article published by The Fiji Times on November 19 that year, recorded 6.5 on the open-ended Richter scale and rocked most parts of Fiji at 3.30am that day, although Taveuni, Vanua Levu and islands in the Northern Division were hardest hit.
Taveuni felt a series of aftershocks, the latest were slight tremors felt at 5.50am and 8.35am, this newspaper’s Taveuni correspondent, Vasu Rama, reported.
Mr Rama said a sound like thunder was heard in Waiyevo before the quake, and people ran out of their homes. Some of them ran up to the hills in panic to avoid a tsunami.
“People are still frightened and feel that they might be hit by more tremors,” he said. However, the director of the Mineral and Geological Department, Ron Richmond, said the aftershocks were normal after an earthquake and were expected to continue for a day or two.
Mr Richmond said after a flight over the quake-hit area, he had noticed dirty water around a reef in the Matei area, which could have indicated fault movement.
Fiji’s worst earthquake was 6.75 on the Richter scale, which occurred in 1953 when it shook Suva. Tidal waves then swept into parts of the city, but there were no reports of a tsunami following the quake.
Reporting from Taveuni, Mr Rama said huge boulders and rocks dislodged by the quake blocked several roads on the island, with the road linking Matei airport to Waiyevo being the worst affected.
Twenty-five PWD men with three trucks and other machines were clearing the road of rocks and boulders, loose soil from landslides and fallen trees.
They filled up sections of the road torn open by the quake. Although the roads were open to traffic, drivers were asked to drive with extreme care, with buses on the northern side of the island from Bouma to Waiyevo still closed.
Despite deep cracks on its edges, Matei Airport was still serviceable. A government team led by the acting Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, visited Taveuni and inspected damage done by the quake.
Houses on the northern end of Taveuni were badly shaken, while crockery and glassware in many homes and shops were broken or damaged. The damage to root crops was slight.
Some concrete buildings were damaged. A Burns Philips cantilever at its landing jetty on Labasa River had a 2.1 cm long by 12.7cm wide crack in it.
Burns Philip manager at Labasa, James Datta said goods were damaged in the supermarket.
The oldest building on Taveuni, the Catholic Mission Church, had large cracks on its walls, while homes at Wairiki suffered similar damage.
Police said Savusavu Town suffered minor damage, but Rabi Island was rocked badly, causing landslides that blocked roads.
Labasa people felt “the sharp tremor and ran out into the streets”, this newspaper’s representative Shantilal Raniga reported.
Paint tins, bottled goods, and crockery worth about $2000 were damaged when they fell from shop shelves during the quake.
The manager of Morris Hedstrom Ltd, Permal Reddy, said he had not estimated damage yet, but groceries, glassware, liquor, and other bottled goods were damaged.
Ms Raniga said there was no damage to power or telephone lines.
Two families on Laucala Island were given alternative accommodation when their homes were considered unsafe to live in because of cracks that appeared on the walls. The estate manager, Noel Douglas, said they would use the best technique possible to repair the homes for further earthquake resistance.
Mr Douglas said there was only slight damage on the island. He said the tremors were quite sharp.
He said during the aftershocks, people were scared to stay indoors as they preferred to live and camp in open space.
