A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with eyewitnesses reporting strong tremors that knocked televisions and other objects to the ground. A tsunami warning was issued for the Solomon Coast area within 300 kilometers (185 mi) of the epicenter. However, the tsunami threat from the Solomons earthquake has “largely passed,” the Pacific Warning Center later updated.
“It was big,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist at the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital Honiara. “Some things fell in the hotel. Everyone seems fine, but they’re panicking.” An reporter in the capital said the tremors lasted about 20 seconds. Power went out in some parts of the city and people left their offices and fled to higher ground. The USGS revised the magnitude of the earthquake from the original 7.3.