16 August 2007
No tsunami risk to NZ from Solomons earthquake
There is no tsunami risk to New Zealand from a moderate earthquake that occurred this evening near the Solomon Islands.
The Director of the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, John Hamilton, said that the Ministry has received information about the earthquake from the
Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii and GNS Science in New Zealand.
Mr Hamilton said that PTWC has indicated that there are no indications that a tsunami had been generated. Even if a
tsunami had been generated from such an earthquake, PTWC had stated that it would not travel more than 100 km from the
epicentre of the quake.
Earthquake details: 8.39pm New Zealand time, magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale, depth less than 100km, near Solomon
Islands (9.6S 159.5E).
This earthquake was smaller than the one that occurred off the coast of Peru earlier today. The Peruvian earthquake
measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.
ENDS