No Tsunami Threat to Hawaiʻi After 6.9 Solomon Islands Quake

Solomon Islands/ Papua New Guinea quake, 4/18/14. Image courtesy USGS.

By Wendy Osher

There is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi following a preliminary magnitude 6.9 earthquake reported at 3:04 p.m. HST on Friday, April 18, 2014, in the Solomon Islands/Papua New Guinea Region, according to an information statement from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The USGS reports that the quake occurred at a depth of 32.3 miles, and was located: 42 miles SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea; 50 miles SW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea; 257 miles SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea; 351 miles ESE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea; and 378 miles WNW of Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying, “Based on all available data, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi.”

The quake comes after less than a week after a 7.6 magnitude quake in the same region reported on Saturday, April 12, 2014.  There was also a 7.3 quake reported in the Solomon Islands/Papua New Guinea region on Thursday, April 10, 2014.

Solomon Islands/ Papua New Guinea quake, 4/18/14. Image courtesy National Tsunami Warning Center.