Earthquake Lifts Island Ten Feet Out of Ocean

Residents of Ranongga island in the South Pacific Ocean sit on a massive coral reef that was exposed by the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck in the Solomon Islands last week, sparking a deadly tsunami.

The quake lifted Ranongga ten feet out of the sea, widening beaches by up to 230 feet. The uplift has left some of the island's pristine coral reefs fatally exposed. In some places the beaches in the Solomons now resemble a barren moonscape with once vibrant corals bleaching under the sun.