Magnitude 6.5 earthquake rocks the Solomon Islands

January 3, 2010

At 08:48 local time (2148 UTC), a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale struck the Solomon Islands on Sunday. The epicenter of the earthquake was 10 kilometers deep (or 6.2 miles deep) and was located 88 kilometers (or 55 miles) south-southeast of the city of Gizo according to preliminary reports.

No immediate reports of damage have been reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that there was no immediate threat of any tsunamis heading toward Hawaii. The Australian Tsunami Warning Centre has issued no alerts.

A possible aftershock to the quake was reported at 09:36 local time (2236 UTC), just shy of an hour after the first quake, with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale, affecting the same area. This time, the epicenter of the earthquake was 30 kilometers (or 18.6 miles) deep, and was 103 kilometers (or 64 miles) south-southeast of Gizo.