SOLOMON ISLANDS TSUNAMI, 4 DEAD


View Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands Tsunami in a larger map

Today a tsunami hit the Solomon Islands after a series of earthquakes shook the region in the last few days. The earthquake which set off the tsunami was rated at a magnitude of 8.0. Currently there are 4 people confirmed dead, but there are also unconfirmed reports of fishing boats being swept out to sea.

At least 100 homes were also destroyed. Most followed the advice of warnings and made it to higher ground in central Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands before the waves hit.

Tsunami warning sirens also went off in New Zealand and Fiji which indicated a three foot rise in the levels of the ocean.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has now lifted the tsunami warning which was limited to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna.

There was also a lesser alert, a tsunami watch, issued for American Samoa, Australia, Guam, the Northern Marianas, New Zealand and eastern Indonesia.

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USGS – M8.0 – 76km W of Lata, Solomon Islands