The Red Cross appealed to the homeless to return to their villages, saying sanitation problems were emerging in the hilltop refugee camps where many were sleeping under the stars. Officials say there's an increasing risk of disease, including malaria, dysentery, and cholera, in these makeshift refugee camps.

Various nations and organizations have sent aid and relief workers, but help is slow to reach everyone in need because of communication challenges and aftershocks.

The Associated Press reported Monday the 10-foot high waves that hit the provincial capital of Gizo caused widespread destruction within five minutes of the quake. As of Wednesday, April 4, approximately 5,400 people remained homeless and in immediate need of food, water, and shelter. Preliminary reports from other islands suggested similar or worse levels of damage.

Tsunami warnings were issued from Tokyo to Hawaii after Monday's earthquake--procedures put in place after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. There was no repeat of the 2004 disaster, when a magnitude 9 quake sent massive waves slamming into the coastlines of a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean's rim, killing or leaving missing approximately 230,000 people.

Gizo, a regional center in the Solomon Islands' Western Province, was just 25 miles from the earthquake's epicenter. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck 6 miles beneath the sea floor and was followed with as many as 50 aftershocks, with nearly 30 measuring above magnitude 5. One aftershock measuring magnitude 6 was felt as late as Wednesday, April 4.

JESUS Film team near ground zero

George Miller, a Nazarene missionary in the Solomon Islands, said Nazarenes in the affected areas are alive, but are displaced and in need of help.

Miller reported a JESUS Film team (JFT), after completing several successful showings in the islands, was at a wharf in Gizo waiting for their ship when the earthquake struck. A huge tidal wave swept over the wharf and into the market and town buildings.

Miller, who was in the capital of Honiara at the time of the earthquake, approximately 200 miles to the southeast of Gizo, described the experience as it was told to him by the JFT:

"At 7:00 A.M., [JFT members] Jimmy, Hudson, and Revelation took the JESUS Film equipment to the wharf to wait for a ship to Honiara. Jimmy [called me] and asked what ship I booked their return passage on. I told him and we hung up. Jimmy and the team went to have coffee in the restaurant nearby.

"Then, at 7:30 or thereabouts, the earthquake of 8.1 magnitude struck and it lasted for several minutes. Their coffee cups fell to the floor and they could hardly stand up as they were essentially at ground zero. Many people were crawling. Jimmy told his team, 'Let's go get the JF equipment.'

"The ground had broken up at the wharf and there was a hole made from the quake. People told Jimmy to get back. Jimmy was worried about his equipment, but before he could move too far he said a huge wall of water developed out of nowhere and swept across the wharf. He said there was no big wave coming. He said the earthquake hit and within a couple minutes this tide rose and flooded the land. Jimmy and Hudson dove into the sea to rescue the equipment, which was now filled with water and very heavy.

"At about 7:50, Jimmy called again and told me, 'We are in trouble now, a big tidal wave washed ashore and the whole town is destroyed.' I talked to him for a while, trying to comfort him and telling him I was glad he was alive. Before he called they had already rescued most of the equipment, so everything happened very fast. The JF equipment is like his baby, but I told him that all of that is replaceable and comforted him as best I could.

"The JFT then went along with the entire town to find higher ground."

Miller later reported the team's projection table, a bag of electric cables, and some light fixtures were swept out to sea. Also, some speakers were filled with water and may be significantly damaged, along with a generator.

Bible college student rescued by father

Jimmy's phone call wasn't the only call Miller would receive that morning.

Grace, a Nazarene Bible College student from Gizo, called him Monday and said she had just arrived at the wharf when the tidal wave hit.

Miller tells her story:

"At around 7:25 or so, Grace Zoti, a Bible college student, along with her father, John, and her niece, arrived at the wharf. She had come to Gizo to board a ship to return [to Honiara] with the JFT so she could attend Bible college beginning next week. They unloaded their banana boat and had just stepped out when the earthquake hit. Grace said it knocked her to the ground and the earth split apart right beside her and she started to fall into a hole. Her father grabbed her and pulled her out and to safety. She said it was difficult to stand up, so they were crawling or moving however they could and they just got to safety when the tidal wave came. Their boat was violently washed ashore and hit a building, breaking the fiberglass boat."

Grace lost all her belongings and her father, who had his boat loaded with timber to finish a house, watched all the timber wash away.

She later boarded the boat for Honiara with just the clothes on her back.

Nazarenes alive, but now homeless

Grace and the JFT arrived safely in Honiara Wednesday morning at approximately 3 A.M. local time. Revelation Kalia, one of the JFT members who survived the quake in Gizo, did not make the trip, instead returning to his village with instructions to contact Miller upon his arrival.

"We knew that at the time of the earthquake, Revelation's three children would be in the sea," Miller wrote. "You see, they have to paddle their boat for 1 1/2 hours one way to school. They leave at 6:30 A.M. to arrive at school by 8. We tried to call anyone that knew anything, but the phones either rang with no answer or we received a recording.

"On Wednesday, we called a pastor in the area and he told us the two islands where our churches are located are under water. He didn't know about the people or buildings. Later, one of our members who works for the meteorology department and has a lot of contacts radioed someone in the Western Province department. This friend went and talked with our members and then radioed back to report his findings: 'Everyone is alive and there are no injuries. They have relocated to a hill on one island. Eight of their homes were damaged. They have lost a lot of things. They are short on food and have no safe drinking water.'"

The call to Miller from Revelation Kalia did not come until Thursday, April 5, when the pastor reported similar findings: "All Nazarenes in his area were alive, but many of their houses were damaged to the point where they are unsafe."

Response team dispatched, more help needed

Miller said a response team with supplies has been dispatched to the Vona Vona Lagoon, where the Nazarene churches are located.

"Our Nazarenes live in small villages, and since there are few people in these villages, they are not a top priority for the big relief work," he said.

This team consists of Alick Hagi, who Miller named tsunami disaster coordinator, Dolasi Baesi, district Nazarene Missions International president/district secretary, and Bible college students Osborne Ali and Jonathan Alick.

Nazarene church members and officials met in Honiara on Monday night to begin a scheduled mini-assembly. Miller said an offering was to be taken each night for the Nazarene response to this disaster.

Miller and other Nazarene officials from the Asia-Pacific Region have worked tirelessly since the earthquake to overcome communication challenges and reach church members in affected areas. Some immediate needs are being met, such as shopping for new clothes and belongings for Grace, while others will take days, weeks, and months.