A tsunami watch has been issued for Australia and a number of other Pacific nations after a powerful earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands today.
The 8.0-magnitude quake struck at 12.12pm (AEDT) at a depth of 5.6km at the Santa Cruz Islands between the Solomons and Vanuatu, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWS) has reported that 103cm waves have struck the town of Lata on Santa Cruz Island.
A hospital director told AFP that some villages were destroyed by the earthquake, but no damage has yet been reported from the tsunami.
“The information we are getting is that some villages west and south of Lata along the coast have been destroyed, although we cannot confirm this yet," the director said.
People in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu should move to higher ground, the PTWS's Nathan Becker has warned.
“The areas that are closest to the earthquake would be the Santa Cruz Islands, but above those the Solomons and Vanuatu are the next closest island groups,” Becker said.
“People in those areas should definitely be clearing the beaches and moving to higher ground.”
The quake followed a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the same area earlier today.
The tsunami warning has been issued for the Solomons, Vanuatu, Naura, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Kiribati.
A lower-level watch alert is in effect for Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Samoa, New Caledonia, Tonga and Guam.
The Solomon Islands are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a long stretch of earthquake-prone areas reaching from New Zealand up through Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Alaska and down the Americas to Chile.
SOURCE: 9 NEWS/PACNEWS
Got ex-colleagues in a few of those places so keeping an eye out. Pacific is a tricky place to live
