Historic Tsunami: The Truth Behind the Legend

Teonimenu was located in what is now the Solomon Islands – a country in the southwestern Pacific that still consists of thousands of small islands. Teonimenu was also part of this archipelago for a long time, but at some point between the visit of the Spanish sailor and explorer Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568 and that of the British captain James Cook between 1768 and 1771, it must have sunk into the sea. If you type 9°59’36″S 161°59’10″E into Google Earth today, all you’ll see is the deep blue waters of the Pacific – a spot known as Lark Shoal. Outlines indicate that there could have been an island here – at least the water depth is relatively shallow, around eight or nine meters.

According to Patrick Nunn, a researcher at Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast and author of a book about lost islands and continents in the Pacific, there is no doubt that the island or islands existed and that it was inhabited by at least 500 to 600 people. “The story is still extremely relevant today because it shows that islands can suddenly disappear,” said Nunn. Islands in a tectonically active region such as the Western Pacific are particularly at risk.

Cursed by husband

According to local stories, the disaster began when a local beauty named Sauwete’au married a young man named Roraimenu from the nearby island of Ali’te. After a while, Sauwete’au had enough of her husband and fled to her home island of Teonimenu with a lover. Her ex-husband, however, acquired a so-called wave curse, which he placed on Teonimenu. The stories describe how smoke rose from the mist-filled water the next morning and a rumbling sound was said to have marked the island’s demise. Eight large waves flooded the island until it was no longer visible.

According to Nunn, the truth is probably not that far from the legend and can be “read” from the traditional story. The researcher suspects that Teonimenu was hit by a large earthquake on the seabed, which caused the part of the underwater ridge from which the island had risen to become unstable. This may have caused the island to slide relatively suddenly into deeper water due to a massive landslide. “This abrupt movement of the sea floor caused a series of tsunami waves that swept over the sinking island,” said the researcher.

According to Nunn, oral traditions about the island are shared by at least 12 to 15 communities in the Solomon Islands. Through the stories, the researchers also found out that Teonimenu probably sank quickly and that only a few survivors managed to escape in canoes, cling to wood or swim to other islands. Nunn said he believes it is realistic that 90 percent of residents did not survive the disaster.

Take traditional stories seriously

Tony Heorake, director of the National Museum of the Solomon Islands, who worked with Nunn on the project, recently confirmed to Australia’s ABC that the story of Teonimenu had also been passed down through his own family. “I am one of the direct descendants of Teonimenu on my mother’s side,” he said. “After the island sank, some of my ancestors survived, floating on banana tree trunks and other debris.” According to Heorake, his ancestors settled on the southern tip of Ulawa Island, which lies north of Teonimenu. His family still lives there, he reported. To this day, the elders of the family would tell stories about Teonimenu, including the different animals and plants, the different types of fishing and hunting on the island. The island was said to be green and fertile, while the islanders were known for their elaborately decorated canoes.

Nunn advocates that researchers should include oral traditions such as those about Teonimenu more often in their scientific work. There are also similar stories about sunken islands in neighboring Vanuatu, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Rather, the stories should serve as a warning, as such incidents could happen again at any time in earthquake-prone regions. A particularly endangered and partly unstable island is the island of Tanna, which belongs to Vanuatu, reported Nunn.