An earthquake measuring magnitude 7 on the Ritcher scale struck Tuesday morning in the southern Solomon Islands, east of the island of Papua New Guinea, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The tremor occurred at 03.03 Spanish peninsular time about 15 kilometers southwest of the island of Guadalcanal, near Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.
In addition to the earthquake, which occurred at a depth of 20 kilometers, a tsunami warning has been issued for the coasts of the Pacific archipelago within a radius of 300 kilometers from the epicenter.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meter above the tide are possible for some coasts of the Solomon Islands, while tsunami waves of less than 0.3 meters are possible for all coasts of the Solomon Islands, as well as some of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
The Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, as well as islands in the Pacific region are located along the Ring of Fire, where about 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.
On Sunday, more than 160 people were killed by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, most of whom were minors.
