APRIL 2 UPDATE from New Zealand Herald:
Witnesses are beginning to describe scenes of devastation after a huge earthquake triggered a tsunami in the Solomon Islands, killing at least 12 people and triggering panic as homes were sucked into the sea.
APRIL 1 — A tsunami advisory was issued Sunday afternoon for North Pacific coastal residents of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California in response to tsunami reports and deaths in the Solomon Islands following a large earthquake.
No damaging tsunami was expected in the north, since no significant rise in sea level had appeared outside South Pacific areas close to the quake, according to a message posted by the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii also said northern areas should not be impacted, but it did issue tsunami warnings for the Solomon Islands, Fiji, parts of New Guinea and New Zealand, and northeastern Australia.
Initial reports stated up to eight people — including a man, woman and six children — were reported killed in Gizo, a small island community only 25 miles from the quake’s epicenter, according to a story in the New Zealand Herald. Government officials reported widespread damage, with at least 60 buildings collapsed.
Solomon Islands
CIA World Factbook
The trigger was one largest earthquakes to hit the world in years. The Magnitude 8.0 temblor struck at a depth of 6.2 miles beneath the Solomon Islands at 20:39:56 UTC (2:39:56 p.m. ADT) on April 1. It was only the fifth quake to exceed M8 since 2004 and the first since a M8.1 struck the Kuril Islands in January.
Dozens of large aftershocks rattled the region during the first six hours, including 14 large jolts — one estimated at magnitude 6.7, according by the U.S Geological Survey.
The initial jolt hit at 7:39 a.m. on April 2, local time, in the Solomon Islands. “There is already one recorded death in Gizo,” wrote Moffat Mamu in the Solomon Star, a few hours after the quake.
Global view / USGS
“Solomon Star is yet to get informations from the other parts of the province because of communication problem with the telephone lines. Attempts to call Taro, Vonunu Secondary school and Noro had proved futile at the moment.”
Fijilive.com reported that three large quakes shook and frightened residents one after another, triggering lots of phone calls. The tsunami warning was cancelled in Fiji by Monday morning local time. Most the tsunami waves reaching the Solomon Islands were less than a foot, according to USGS and online reports.