Earthquake strikes the Pacific

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 26, 2013, 10:00 Updated : April 26, 2013, 09:59
A powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, triggering a small tsunami that swept into isolated island communities and sparked tsunami alerts across the South Pacific that were later canceled.

Damage reports were limited, and there were no reports of casualties. The quake struck 340 km (211 miles) east of Kira Kira in the Solomons, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said.

A tsunami measuring three feet hit remote Temotu province in the Solomons following the quake, the center said, but it later canceled warnings for other South Pacific islands, as well as for Australia and New Zealand, as the danger of a major destructive wave passed.

The Solomons, perched on the geologically active “Pacific Ring of Fire”, were hit by a devastating tsunami following an 8.1 magnitude quake in 2007. At least 50 people were killed then and dozens left missing and more than 13 villages destroyed.

Initial signs were that the tremor was a thrust quake, in which vertical movement in the continental plates generates higher risk of tsunami, Bathgate added. Authorities in the Solomons, Fiji, Guam and elsewhere had urged residents to higher ground before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center canceled its alerts.

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