HONIARA: A severe earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude was reported to have hit the Solomon Islands on Tuesday.
According to eyewitnesses, the quake caused power outages in some regions of the country’s capital Honiara and sent objects flying to the ground.
Joy Nisha, a receptionist at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara, told AFP, “This was a huge one.”
“Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone appears alright yet anxious,” the receptionist added.
Eyewitness accounts of the earthquake
According to an AFP correspondent in Honiara, the shaking continued for almost 20 seconds.
Although there were no indications of significant structural damage, several parts of the city were without electricity, and people were scurrying from their workplaces and escaping to higher ground.
A manager at the Pacific Casino Hotel, who wished to remain unnamed, stated, “I was pretty worried since this was the first time I felt this sort of earthquake.”
She said that the structure was shaking really violently. It was so powerful that it caused you to sway from side to side.
Dozens of employees and visitors escaped the structure to the parking lot’s relative safety, trying to avoid being struck by falling objects.
John Muria, the nation’s attorney general, shared pictures of office documents that had poured out of several big metal filing cabinets on social media.
USGS revises magnitude of earthquake
The earthquake’s magnitude was first reported as 7.3 by the US Geological Survey, which was later revised.
Just off the southwest coast of the island of Guadalcanal, the earthquake occurred at a depth of around 10 kilometers.
The UN-backed Pacific warning center subsequently stated that the threat had “largely” gone. A tsunami warning had been issued for a region of the Solomon Islands coast 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the epicenter.
Authorities advise caution of aftershocks
Solomon Islands authorities affirmed that the tsunami threat had passed but advised caution.
The head of the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, David Hiba Hiriasia, urged people to exercise caution near buildings and towering structures due to the likelihood of aftershocks.
Around 20,000 people reside within 50 kilometers of the epicenter, according to UN estimates.
About 800,000 people live in the vast archipelago of The Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
Exactly one year had passed since the anti-government riots that claimed at least three lives and caused millions of dollars in damages. — AFP / APP
