A series of strong undersea earthquakes have struck the Solomon Islands since ten o’clock Thursday morning.
Saturday, 23rd May 2015
Three strong undersea earthquakes have struck the Solomon Islands in recent days.
The first event was a magnitude 6.8 earthquake which struck at 10:49 a.m. New Zealand time on Thursday May 21st. The earthquake was centred near the Santa Cruz Islands, 184 km west of Lata, 488 km east-south-east of Honiara, Solomon Islands at a depth of 12 km according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS reports another undersea earthquake struck the area at 9:45 this morning, New Zealand time. This magnitude 6.9 quake was centred to the west of the earlier event, 204 km east-south-east of Kirakira, 447 km east-south-east of Honiara at a depth of 10 km.
A third earthquake struck the area at midday today. The USGS reports that this magnitude 6.8 quake was centred 159 km east-south-east of Kirakira, 403 km east-south-east of Honiara at a depth of 10 km.
The earthquakes have been progressing westward along the South Solomon Trench where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates interact.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued bulletins for each event, advising that the earthquakes did not pose a tsunami threat.