Sydney, Dec 9 (IANS): The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre cancelled a tsunami alert it had issued for parts of the South Pacific soon after a powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8 struck off the Solomon Islands on Thursday.
The quake, which occurred at 17:39 UTC on Thursday, centred about 68 kilometres southwest of Kirakira in the Solomon Islands, Xinhua reported.
It struck at a depth of 48 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The warning centre had issued a tsunami alert for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia and Tuvalu and Kosrae.
"Based on all available data ... the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed," the centre said.