A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, according to the USGS, with witnesses reporting tremors that knocked televisions and other objects to the ground.
A tsunami warning was issued about 300 kilometers from the epicenter, located 55 kilometers from the capital, Honiara, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).
“It was a big earthquake,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara, told AFP, adding that “some items in the hotel fell. Everyone seems to be fine, but they panicked.”
An AFP journalist in the capital said the quake lasted about 20 seconds. Electricity was cut in certain parts of the city and people left their offices to take shelter in the heights.
The USGS has revised the magnitude of the quake to 7, after initially declaring it a 7.3. The quake occurred at a depth of 13 km at 1:03 pm local time (02:03 GMT).
Waves as high as one to three meters are likely on the coasts of the Solomon Islands, and less than three meters on the coasts of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, according to the PTWC.
