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Team Members:Costas Synolakis Hideo Matsutomi Utku Kanoglu Shun-Ichi Koshimura Andrew Moore Christophe Ruscher Tomoyuki Takahashi |
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PhotosSubject: Vanuatu survey... Gentlemen, We arrived in Villa, Vanuatu yesterday, met with Stanley the local SOPAC contact. Logistics are a mess, access to south of Pentecost only possible via helicopter and boat. We have to bring our own food and water for 4 days. No water supply or power, water distribution network being "fixed" as we speak. We met with Pelettier's french recon team, they gave us valuable info on subsidence/uplift. They have done a terrific job measuring deformations. Time of arrival of wave uncertain, possibly multiple tsunamis. At this point the plan is as follows. 1) Hideo-san, Koshi and Utku will go to the north of Efate, will return to Villa tonight, will come to Pentecost tomorrow (Thurs) via chopper. 2) Tomo, Moore, Christophe, two local colleagues and I are off via fixed wing carrying water/food/fuel. Scheduled to depart in 1 hour, 2:00pm local. Will arrive in Pentecost around 3:00pm, we hope, and then survey around the airport. Accomodations tonight not confirmed, tentatively planning to stayat a local contact's home for a day. Beyond that we will have to negotiaterenting a house for the whole team. 3) The entire team will meet in Pentecost "airport" and head south tomorrow to Maitele Bay, 1/2 by chopper, 1/2 by boat, or so I hope. Most boats in Pentecost reported destroyed by the tsunami, fuel again a major concern. Will try to send teams out to Ambrym, Aoba, Paama and Malekula islands. We expect to have a chopper for 3 days, hope to use it 3 hrs per day. 4) Will not return to Villa until late Saturday or Sunday morning. Only one phone known to work in Pentecost, at the airport, so this will be last communication for awhile. Incidentally, baud is 7200, this is an expensive message. Hope it will all work out. 5) Weather v. hot, v. humid but OK for surveying, but changing rapidly. Rain will ruin everything. Costas |
