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Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 February, 2013 : - - An 8.0 magnitude earthquake set off a tsunami that killed at least five people in a remote part of the Solomon Islands on Wednesday 6 Feb 2013, and triggered a tsunami alert. The quake struck 340 km east of Kira Kira in the Solomons, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued warnings for the Solomons and other South Pacific nations including Australia and New Zealand. It later cancelled the warnings for the outlying regions.

A tsunami measuring 0.9 metres hit near the town of Lata on the remote Santa Cruz island, swamping villages and the town's main airport. More than three dozen aftershocks up to magnitude 6.6 rocked the region in the hours after the quake.  Disaster officials in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara believed six people were dead and that five villages had suffered damage.

The Solomons were hit by a devastating tsunami following an 8.1 magnitude quake in 2007. At least 50 people were killed then and dozens left missing and more than 13 villages destroyed.

Initial signs were that the tremor was a thrust quake, in which vertical movement in the continental plates generates higher risk of tsunami. Authorities in the Solomons, Fiji, Guam and elsewhere urged residents to higher ground before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled its alerts.

Source: Surfers Village