6.5-magnitude quake hits Solomons

Photo taken from en.wikipedia.org

SYDNEY—A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean late Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

The tremor, which was just 22 kilometers (14 miles) deep, had its epicenter on the south coast of the island of Guadalcanal, 39 kilometers southwest of the capital Honiara.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying: “Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected.”

The Solomons National Disaster Management Office could not be reached but Australia said that the quake was unlikely to pose a risk of a tsunami.

“It’s just the usual Pacific kind of event, they get earthquakes of this size regularly,” duty seismologist Mark Leonard told AFP.

“It’s unlikely that it’s going to cause any grief at all.”

The Solomon Islands form part of the Ring of Fire, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific Ocean that is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.

Leonard said an earthquake of the magnitude experienced Wednesday would need to be much more shallow to cause that kind of impact.