After a recent undersea earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Asia Pacific, 7,000 people have been made homeless and 52 have died, according to the Associated Press. On April 2, the tsunami, with waves reportedly up to 50 feet high, battered the Solomon Islands, hitting the island of Gizo hardest.

“It was supposed to be high tide, so when we saw the sea going out we ran up to the high ground,” said Gizo resident Jacob Pitisoba to The New York Times. “All the buildings on the coast are gone, washed away by the tsunami. There’s nothing left.”

Since then, the death toll has been steadily rising.

“We are preparing for a worsening of the known numbers of the dead, of course in a situation like this, many people may just simply disappear,” said Greg Hunt, secretary to Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to ABC News.

The islands are currently receiving much needed aid. Medical teams from France, Taiwan, Canada, Australia and the Red Cross have been deployed.

The United States, Fiji, Taiwan and Australia are providing financial assistance.

However, in a recent Baltimore Sun op-ed article Michael D. Kerlin calls into question the generosity of the United States.

As of April 10, the United States has contributed $250,000. With 7,000 homeless islanders, this donation is about $35 per person.

Kerlin said, “(This donation is) far from enough for rebuilding or resettlement.”

In contrast to the United States’ gift of $250,000, Australia and Taiwan have each donated about $1.5 million to Solomon relief efforts.

“It’s just insane the amount of money we’re misappropriating. There’s just over $10 billion that went missing in Iraq, then we’re only pledging matters of thousands to these victims,” Eric Mortensen, assistant professor of religious studies, said. “I would urge people to be disquieted about the tiny amount of financial aid that the United States is giving.”

The undersea earthquake that prompted the tsunami measured a magnitude 8.1, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Associate Professor of Geology David Dobson explained how earthquakes such as this occur.

“A piece of the ocean floor moves and creates a disturbance in the water,” Dobson said. “In this case, it occurred too close to shore to give anyone an official warning.”

There is a strong possibility that more earthquakes will shake the islands soon, according to Kevin McCue, director of the Australian Seismological Center.

“This region typically has double earthquakes, six sets of them since 1907,” McCue said to The New York Times.

Mortensen is concerned with the lack of coverage of the recent tsunami in the U.S. media.

“People don’t know what happened, so they don’t know what they can do or what they should do,” said Mortensen. “You’ve got more media coverage about Anna Nicole Smith. We’ve got to ask ourselves what the media’s priorities are, what our own priorities are.”

Nicholas Miller, senior with a concentration in East Asian Studies, said, “People don’t care (about the Solomon Islands tsunami) because of the comparatively low death toll, and most people don’t know much about the islands.”

If readers are interested in financially assisting victims of the recent tsunami, they can consider making a donation to organizations such as Doctors Without Borders or The American Red Cross.