Simbo

Simbo
New Georgia Islands; Simbo at left
Highest point
Elevation335 m (1,099 ft)
Coordinates8°17′30″S 156°31′0″E / 8.29167°S 156.51667°E / -8.29167; 156.51667
Geography
Map
LocationNew Georgia Islands, Solomon Islands
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcanoes
Volcanic arc/beltBougainville & Solomon Is.
Last eruption1910 ± 10 years[1]

Simbo is an island in Western Province, Solomon Islands. It was known to early Europeans as Eddystone Island. The islanders have their unique language spoken nowhere else.[2]

Geography

Simbo is actually two main islands, one small island called Nusa Simbo separated by a saltwater lagoon from a larger one. Collectively the islands are known to the local people as Mandegugusu, while in the rest of the Solomons the islands are referred to as Simbo.[3] Simbo has an active volcano called Ove as well several saltwater lagoons and a freshwater lake.

2007 Earthquake and Tsunami

On April 2, 2007, Simbo was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami which is now known as the 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake. A 12 m tsunami destroyed two villages, Tapurai and Riquru, on the northern side of the island. Even though the tsunami hit the villages just minutes after the earthquake nearly everyone in the villages ran for safety before the waves hit. Their astonishing response was probably due to a combination of deep ecological knowledge of the coastal waters as well as an uncanny capacity to sense the impeding danger.[4]

Some of the historic cultural practices on Simbo are referenced in The Ghost Road, a novel by Pat Barker about World War I. The author used the research of Arthur Maurice Hocart and the psychoanalyst William Rivers.

References

  1. ^ "Simbo". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  2. ^ Hocart, A. M. (January 1922). "The Cult of the Dead in Eddystone of the Solomons". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 52: 71. doi:10.2307/2843772.
  3. ^ Scheffler, Harold W. (April 1962). "Kindred and Kin Groups in Simbo Island Social Structure". Ethnology. 1 (2): 135. doi:10.2307/3772871.
  4. ^ Lauer, Matthew (2023). Sensing Disaster: Local Knowledge and Vulnerability in Oceania. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520392076.


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