The Solomon Islands were shocked by Earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on Tuesday, prompting residents to run for higher ground.
The Australian embassy, airport and shopping malls were damaged. The earthquake also caused power outages in the capital, Haniyara.
Solomon Islands government spokesman George Herming said he was in his office on the second floor of a building in the capital Chania when the earthquake hit the city.
“It’s a huge one that just shocked everybody,” he said.
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People gather outside shuttered shops in Haniara, Solomon Islands, after an earthquake, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022.
“As a result of the earthquake, we have desks and desks scattered everywhere, books and everything, but no major damage to the structure or buildings,” Herming continued.
A spokesman said there were no high-rise buildings in the Solomon Islands that could be vulnerable to an earthquake, and noted that there was some panic and congestion around the city as people tried to access the high ground.
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A powerful earthquake rocked the Solomon Islands on Tuesday afternoon, overturning a table and sending people scrambling for higher ground.
The quake’s epicenter was in the ocean about 56 kilometers, or 35 miles, southwest of Haniyara at a depth of 13 kilometers, or 8 miles, the US Geological Survey said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned of potentially dangerous waves for the area, but later downgraded the tsunami warning.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, sending residents fleeing to higher ground.
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The Solomon Islands is on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc along the edge of the Pacific Ocean where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur more frequently.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
