The earthquake prompted tsunami warnings and watches from several island
chains to Australia and later New Zealand, but many were later
canceled.
The low-lying Solomon Islands, however, were not spared. At least 100
homes in the town of Lata were destroyed by a surge of water, according
to World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Water and
electricity also remained out in the town, which is the capital of
Temoto Province.
Government officials said that in addition to the four confirmed deaths
in the islands, there were unconfirmed reports that some people in
fishing boats were swept out to sea.
The majority of Lata’s residents relocated to higher ground in central
Lata, following many who fled before the surge. Even though the tsunami
warning for the region was lifted, significant tremors were still being
felt throughout Temotu Province and waters had not fully receded late in
the day.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
said the tsunami warning was limited to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,
Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati,
and Wallis and Futuna.
A lesser alert, a tsunami watch, was declared for American Samoa,
Australia, Guam, the Northern Marianas, New Zealand and eastern
Indonesia.
The earthquake was not only powerful but also shallow, which gave it
significant potential to cause damage, said Barry Hirshorn, a
geophysicist with the National Weather Service in Hawaii. Moreover, it
was a thrust earthquake, he said, meaning that the seafloor moved up or
down, not sideways, contributing to the potential for a dangerous
tsunami.
But after the earthquake, as scientists watched to see how far a tsunami
might spread, there were few early indications of a major threat beyond
the immediate area, Mr. Hirshorn said. A water rise of about three feet
had been observed close to the earthquake, he said, still high enough
to be potentially damaging but probably not big enough to threaten
distant shores.
In New Zealand, thousands of people were at the beach, swimming in the
sea on a glorious summer afternoon on Waitangi Day, a national holiday —
quite oblivious to the potential for a tsunami. Tsunami sirens were set
off late in the afternoon there, and people in coastal areas were being
told to stay off beaches and out of the sea, rivers and estuaries.
The New Zealand Herald reported Wednesday afternoon on its Web site that
tsunami sirens in Suva, the capital of Fiji, had been warning people to
stay inside or go to higher ground.
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