8.0 Quake Strikes Pacific Causing Tsunami Warnings

An 8.0 earthquake struck just after noon (SITZ), on Wednesday. The initial quake was followed by aftershocks as high as 6.6, 6.4, and 6.3.

It occurred in the Pacific Ocean, about two hundred miles east of the Solomon Islands and fifty miles west of the Santa Cruz Islands.

Reports are coming in that some villages, in the Solomon Islands, were destroyed by the quake. A shallow quake, it occurred less than four miles below the surface.

Various tsunami warnings were issued for Pacific rim countries with island countries across the ocean sounding the alarm, for people to seek high ground.

Tsunami warnings were put into place for: Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, Wallis, and Futuna. Tsunami watches were created for: American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, and eastern Indonesia.

Lata Wharf, in the Solomon Islands, saw a surge of three and a half feet. Expectations are that some areas may see around six feet of tsunami.