Santa Cruz Islands
The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles (220 nmi; 400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands archipelago. The Santa Cruz Islands lie just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu, and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion.
Geography
The term Santa Cruz Islands is sometimes used to encompass all of the islands of the present-day Solomon Islands province of Temotu.
The largest island is
Other islands belonging to the Santa Cruz group[1] are Vanikoro (which is actually made up of two islands, Banie and its small neighbor Teanu) and Utupua. Vanikoro has an area of 173.2 square kilometres (66.9 sq mi) and a population of 800. Utupua covers 69 square kilometres (26.6 sq mi) and has a population of 848, and its highest point is 380 m (1,247 ft) above sea level.
The Santa Cruz Islands are less than five million years old, and were pushed upward by the tectonic subduction of the northward-moving Indo-Australian Plate under the Pacific Plate. The islands are mostly composed of limestone and volcanic ash over limestone. The highest point in the Santa Cruz Islands is on Vanikoro, at 924 m (3,031 ft).
Culture
Languages
The native languages of the islands are classified as the
Tepukei (ocean-going outrigger canoes)
Some
Navigators from the Santa Cruz islands retained traditional navigation techniques into the 20th century; these techniques were also known by the
Contact with other cultures
The islands were visited by Spanish explorer
World War II
During the Pacific campaign of World War II, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was fought north of the Santa Cruz group and some United States Navy seaplanes were based in Graciosa Bay, with one reportedly sinking at the seaplane base there. U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 23 (VP-23), known as the "Seahawks," was stationed at Graciosa Bay, from which it operated Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, including on "Black Cat" night missions.[8] Chemical ordnance stored on Vanikoro Island during World War II was not completely removed until the 1990s.
2013 Solomon Islands earthquake
The Santa Cruz Islands were affected by the 2013 Solomon Islands earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 6 February 2013. The earthquake produced a tsunami measuring 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) at Lata, Solomon Islands,[9] that reached about 500 m (1,640 ft) inland. The airport and low-lying areas were flooded,[10] killing nine people, five of them elderly and one a child. More than 100 houses on the island were damaged, and the water and electricity services were interrupted.[11] It was reported that almost all houses in Nela village were washed away, and some homes in Venga village were shifted by water.[12]
See also
- American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964, by William Manchester, p. 320
- Melanesia
- Oceania
- Pacific Islands
Notes
- ISBN 0-387-98285-X. Online in Google Books
- ^ "IWF Wissen und Medien". Film Archives Online. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ "Short Portrait: Gerd Koch". Interviews with German anthropologists: The History of Federal German Anthropology post 1945. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ Koch, Gerd (1971). Die Materielle Kultur der Santa Cruz-Inseln (in German). Berlin: Museum für Volkerkunde Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
- ^ a b Lewis, David (1974). "Wind, Wave, Star, and Bird". National Geographic. 146 (6): 747–754.
- ^ Maude, H. E. (1959). "Spanish Discoveries in the Central Pacific: A Study in Identification". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 68 (4): 284–326. Archived from the original on 2018-02-10. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ISBN 1-74175-054-7.
- ^ Seaplane Base Nadi, vpnavy.com.
- ^ "Tsunami alert after Solomon Islands earthquake". The Guardian. 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
- ^ "Fears for villages after major quake hits near Solomons". Sydney Morning Herald. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
- ^ Suzanne McFadden and Gerry Mullany (2013-02-06). "Tsunami Causes Deaths and Damages Homes on Solomon Islands". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
- ^ "Airport flood hinders tsunami aid effort". 7 February 2013.
References
- Santa Cruz and the Reef Islands, by W.C. O'Ferrall—1908 account with many illustrations by missionary in Santa Cruz from 1897 to 1904.
- John Seach: Solomon Islands page
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- New International Encyclopedia. 1905. .