A tsunami forecast issued for parts of the South Pacific Ocean following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Solomon Islands has ended without any reported incidents.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at 9:38 a.m. PT Thursday (4:30 a.m. Friday in the Solomon Islands) about 200 kilometres southeast of the capital, Honiara.

The epicentre was relatively deep at 41 kilometres below the surface. Deeper quakes generally cause less damage on the ground.



Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office director Loti Yates said he had received reports of collapsed buildings in villages in Makira, the island closest to the epicentre of the massive undersea quake, which had initially prompted a tsunami watch as far afield as Hawaii.

"Villages that we have made contact with have evacuated. Actually, most of the communities that we have spoken with had already evacuated," Yates said.

Yates said the authorities in the Solomons had not received any reports of deaths but would start to assess the damage as morning dawned. Some 50,000 people live in Makira province.

Tsunami threat passed

After the quake, a tsunami watch was issued and then upgraded to a "tsunami threat forecast" that waves of one to three metres could hit the Solomon Islands, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC).

The PTWC also cautioned waves of up to one metre could hit the nearby coasts of Papua New Guineau and Vanuatu as well.

Waves of less than 0.3 metres were forecast for other areas, including Australia, Fiji, Indonesia and New Zealand.

About two hours after the quake, the forecast was downgraded to say that the threat had passed and only minor sea-level fluctuations were recorded.

Areas at risk

Early on, the centre also said it was investigating whether there was any tsunami threat to Hawaii, but later cancelled the watch.

"Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat to the state of Hawaii," the centre said. Officials also said there is no threat to the west coast of North America.

Australian authorities later said there was no risk to its coastlines, while the New Zealand Civil Defence Office said earlier that it was evaluating the threat.

The quake comes after a 6.8 magnitude quake struck off the north coast of California on Thursday morning. There was no damage or tsunami warning as a result of that one.