"We are all fine, only a small tremor this morning. But the news from Western and Choiseul provinces is not good," wrote Brown in an e-mail to General Synod, the national office of the Anglican Church of Canada in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has been in communication with the Church of the Province of Melanesia. According to the Church, plans are underway to send a ship with relief supplies. The Church will also provide food and shelter materials. ERD stands nearby to respond and provide emergency assistance.

The earthquake and tsunami struck the island nation at 7:39 a.m. April 2 causing people throughout the region to flee for safety towards higher ground. The island of Gizo, located northwest of Honiara, the capital, was hit hardest by the quake. On low-lying areas of the island, a hospital, schools, and shops were damaged. It has been reported that 13 villages were washed away into the sea as a result of the tsunami. Aftershocks have been reported throughout the islands.

Brown, who is based in Auki, the see city and capital of Malaita, was a former mission coordinator for Asia and the Pacific with General Synod.

"Witnesses told of buildings being flattened and villages washed into the ocean when a massive wall of water struck low-lying islands early Monday," reported The Age, in Australia. "The quake leveled buildings and damaged a hospital in Gizo, a popular dive center and provincial capital northwest of Honiara, and just 40 kilometers from the quake's epicenter."

In a news release, the Canadian church's relief arm, the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, said it was following the situation closely and was waiting for more information from its aid partner, ACT International.