Major 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Solomon Islands

By: Naseem Khan

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred today near the Solomon Islands in the Western Pacific, the US Geophysical Survey (USGS) said. The epicenter of the quake was about 210 kilometers southeast of the capital, Honiara.

There was no major damage reported and The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that tsunami was not expected.

“BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED” according to the report on The Pacific Tsunami Warning center website.

The Solomon Islands is a country of nearly 1,000 islands that regularly experiences earthquake. The region is hit by 90% of earthquakes in the world according to AP.