A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has rocked the Solomon Islands about 68km off the coast of Kirakira. A subsequent tsunami watch was issued for Hawaii, which is located 6000km away, but was cancelled. Areas close to the quake are also on tsunami alerts.
Image: NOAA
The quake happened early this morning at 7:38AM local time in Hawaii (4:38AM AEDT), and struck at a depth of 40km. No damage has been reported, but the large quake has spawned tsunami warnings in the Solomons, Japan and Hawaii.
“Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Kosrae,” declared the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Tsunami waves reaching one to three metres are still possible along some coasts of the Solomon Islands, while waves reaching several centimetres to one metre are possible for some coasts of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Image: NOAA