A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 hit the Solomon Islands at 8.39am and triggered a tsunami this morning, according to Geoscience Australia.
A man who answered the telephone at the Gizo police station said up to eight people had been killed by the tsunami -- including a man, a woman and six children -- but said the deaths were still unconfirmed, The Associated Press reported.
Bondi Beach in Sydney was closed and all Manly ferry services suspended due to a tsunami warning - the size was expected to be between 20 - 30cm.
The west coast of New Zealand could expect changes in sea level up to 0.5m, the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence said. This could occur between 1.38pm and 5.06pm.
New Zealand is still under 'watch', the Ministry said.
Whereas many geological agencies, including those in Australia and Japan, put the magnitude of the quake at 8.1, the US Geological Survey's initial estimate was 7.6.
The quake was 10 kilometres deep and struck 45 km south south-east of Gizo, a small township on New Georgia Islands.
"There has been serious damage mainly around western Gizo and it seems that about 60 buildings have collapsed," Kyodo quoted an official for the Solomon Islands government as saying.
Ada Akao from Australia's High Commission in Honiara said the quake was also felt in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, but no buildings in the city appeared to have been damaged.
"It lasted ... let's say two minutes. Not much damage here. We felt a gentle rock. Nothing bad happened," Akao said.
However the New Zealand Ministry of Defence said that there is no need to panic as the wave size of the tsunami recorded in the capital Honiara is only 15 centimetre.
Based on current information the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a tsunami threat to New Zealand.
The tsunami expert panel in New Zealand indicate that a tsunami would have an insignificant impact here.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued warnings for Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Nauru, New Caledonia, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Australia, Indonesia, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Marshall Islands.
GNS seismologist Bryan Fielding says no warning has been issued yet for this part of the world, but the situation is being monitored. He believes New Zealand is unlikely to be badly affected.
Geoscience duty seismologist David Jepsen said the quake had occurred in an area of frequent seismic activity.
There had already been one aftershock, the strength of which had not yet been determined, Dr Jepsen said.
"It's on the plate boundary between the Pacific and Asian plates, so these quakes are common," he said.
A series of waves associated with the earthquake may impact Australia later today Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, the NSW coastline between 1pm and 2pm (NZ time) and coastal areas of northeast Queensland, according to a tsunami warning bulletin on the website of The Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
A Geoscience spokeswoman said the resulting tsunami would be between 20 and 30cm, posing little threat to residents in isolated areas.
"It's not a really big (threat) for the coast of Australia," she said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/sto ... d=10432132
Just think if a Tsunami from the solomans was going to hit New Zealand it would have come and gone by the time you read that news article.