Reuters
Canberra, Apr 3: A powerful magnitude 8.1 earthquake on Monday struck near the Solomon Islands prompting a tsunami alert across the Pacific Ocean in countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii placed the centre of the quake around 350 km north-west of the Solomon Islands capital Honiara. The shallow quake struck around 6:40 am (0210 hrs IST).
''An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours,'' the centre said in a statement as it issued the tsunami warning.
Ada Akao from Australia's High Commission in Honiara said the quake was felt in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, but no buildings in the city appeared to have been damaged.
''It lasted ... let's say two minutes. Not much damage here.
We felt a gentle rock. Nothing bad happened,'' Akao told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Many geological agencies, including those in Australia and Japan, put the magnitude of the quake at 8.1 but US Geological Survey's initial estimate was 7.6.
The initial tremor appeared to have immediately been followed by a second one of similar magnitude, Japan's Meteorological Agency's Web site said.
The US agency said the focus of the quake was about 10 km below the surface of the ocean.
Australia issued a tsunami alert for the far north coast of Queensland state, including the tourist city of Cooktown and the Willis and Barrier Reef islands. ''We haven't actually had any reports of significant tsunami damage or tsunami waves, but it would take some time for waves to reach tidal gauges,'' senior forecaster John Turnbull from the bureau told Reuters.
The tsunami warning centre said sea level readings indicated a tsunami was generated but that areas north of the Solomon islands should not be significantly affected.
Several people were missing after a powerful earthquake in the South Pacific hit the Solomon Islands, triggering a small tsunami, officials said.
A tsunami warning was also issued for other Pacific rim countries, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia, after the shallow quake, which had a magnitude of at least 8.0.
''It was just like a real extreme tide. We didn't get like a huge big impact wave,'' Danny Kennedy, a dive shop owner and provincial politician on Gizo island told Reuters.
''The water just came up about probably about 4 to 5 metres above sea level, and kind of just went up into the communities and doused everything,'' he said.
From the capital Honiara, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. said residents on Simbo island had reported waves travelling up to 200 metres inland, damaging homes.
''There are reports of two villages hit and four people missing on the island of Mono,'' Solomon Islands' chief government spokesman, Alfred Maesulia told Reuters from the capital of the the string of islands.
Mono is in the Treasuries Islands, an isolated and mountainous chain in the far west of the Solomons. The quake also hit nearby New Georgia, damaging a hospital in Gizo, the provincial capital, which has a population of about 20,000.
''There are quite large boats sitting in the middle of the road.
Many of the houses that were on stilts are sitting on the ground. A number of the coastal communities have been completely wiped out,'' Kennedy said.
He said the hospital had been evacuated and patients had been taken to a doctor's house on higher ground, with more than 2,000 left homeless.
''Everybody is in a bit of a panic at the moment because everybody is talking about a new 50 metre wave coming,'' Kennedy said. ''You had a lot of people standing at the markets. Many of the people just rode it out in their boats, but a lot of the Chinese stores have lost pretty much all of their cargo.'' The National Disaster Management Office said up to 60 buildings had been destroyed including houses, although there were no confirmed deaths, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Japan's NHK television said at least three people were reported dead.
Higher Ground
''We are telling people to flee to higher ground in case an aftershock causes more waves,'' said the spokeswoman, who insisted she not be named.
''Communications are down, but at the moment there are no confirmed deaths. There are many reports of missing people.'' Japan's meteorological agency said a tsunami of 0.15 metre was recorded in Honiara, and that were a tsunami wave to reach Japan it would be around 0930 hrs IST. Australia's weather bureau confirmed the height, saying damage was quake-related.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii placed the quake's centre around 350 km north-west of Honiara. The quake, centred about 10 km below the surface of the ocean, struck around 6:40 am, (0210 hrs IST yesterday).
The New Georgia islands are popular with international travellers for scuba diving. Most homes in the mountainous islands are constructed of timber and bamboo, with villagers relying on fishing and logging for employment.
Solomons police spokesman Mick Spinks said some tidal damage had been reported in Gizo, where a harbourfront hotel had been destroyed, as well as Lefung and Taro.
Geological agencies, including those in Australia and Japan, put the magnitude of the quake at 8.1 while the US Geological Survey's (USGS) revised its earlier estimate to 8.0.
Ada Akao from Australia's High Commission in Honiara said the quake was felt in Honiara but no buildings in the city appeared to have been damaged.
The initial tremor was followed around seven minutes later by a second one, centred further west, of magnitude 6.7, USGS said.
Australia issued a tsunami alert for the far north coast of Queensland state, including the tourist city of Cooktown and the Willis and Barrier Reef islands.
''We haven't actually had any reports of significant tsunami damage or tsunami waves, but it would take some time for waves to reach tidal gauges,'' senior forecaster John Turnbull from the bureau told Reuters.
The tsunami warning centre said areas north of the Solomon islands should not be significantly affected.