LIHU‘E — A powerful earthquake 20 miles deep in the ocean off the Solomon Islands created a tsunami of up to 5 feet that damaged dozens of homes and likely killed several people in the South Pacific island chain Tuesday
LIHU‘E — A powerful earthquake 20 miles deep in the ocean off the Solomon Islands created a tsunami of up to 5 feet that damaged dozens of homes and likely killed several people in the South Pacific island chain Tuesday (Wednesday in Solomon Islands), according to the Associated Press.
The 8.0-magnitude underwater earthquake happened at 3:12 p.m., Hawai‘i Standard Time, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a tsunami warning and watch to several nations and islands in the Pacific region.
NOAA initially put Hawai‘i in alert of a potential tsunami watch or warning. At 4:33 p.m., the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami had been confirmed in areas near the quake’s epicenter, but it should not affect Hawai‘i.
“Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawai‘i,” NOAA posted on its website.
If tsunami waves were to impact Hawai‘i, their estimated earliest arrival time would have been 10:04 p.m. Tuesday, according to NOAA.
Meanwhile, Solomon officials reported two 4-foot, 11-inch waves hit the western side of Santa Cruz Island, damaging around 50 homes and properties, said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister, according to AP. Many villagers had headed to higher ground as a precaution, Herming said.
Solomon Islands Police Commissioner John Lansley said local police patrols had reported that several people were presumed dead, though the reports were still being verified, according to AP.
“Sadly, we believe some people have lost their lives,” he said. “At the moment we potentially know of four, but there may of course be more.”
The tsunami formed after the underwater earthquake near Lata on Santa Cruz in Temotu province, the easternmost province of the Solomons, about a 3-hour flight from the capital, Honiara. The region has a population of around 30,000 people, according to AP.
Four villages on Santa Cruz were impacted by the waves, with two facing severe damage, Lansley said. Other areas of the Solomons did not appear to have been seriously affected, AP reported.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami of about 3 feet was measured in Lata wharf, in the Solomon Islands, according to AP. Additionally, the center said a 4.3-inch wave was observed in neighboring Vanuatu. An official at the disaster management office in Vanuatu said there were no reports of damage or injuries there.
The center has canceled warnings for tsunami waves.
The Solomons comprise more than 200 islands with a population of about 552,000 people.
They lie on the “Ring of Fire” — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 percent of the world’s quakes occur, according to AP.
In April 2007, more than 50 people were killed and thousands lost their homes when a magnitude 8.1 quake hit the western Solomon Islands, sending waves crashing into coastal villages, AP reported.
