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No tsunami threat to Hawaii from Solomon Islands quake

COURTESY NOAA
This is the latest in an ngoing sequence of seismicity in the South Pacific region over the past week, which began with a magnitude-7.1 and magnitude-6.5 earthquakes in Papua New Guinea on April 11.

There is no tsunami threat to Hawaii after a magnitude-7.5 quake near the Solomon Islands, but there may be some small changes in sea level, the city Department of Emergency Management said.

The earthquake struck at 3:27 a.m. Saturday in Hawaii. It was first measured as a magnitude-7.8 quake with a depth of 6.2 miles but it was later downgraded it to 7.5.

Some coastal areas in Hawaii could experience small non-destructive sea level changes and strong or unusual currents lasting up to several hours, the DEM said. The estimated time for these changes is 11:56 a.m. 

Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were under a tsunami warning which was later canceled.

This is the latest in an ongoing sequence of seismicity in the South Pacific region over the past week, which began with magnitude-7.1 and magnitude-6.5 earthquakes near Papua New Guinea on April 11, in the vicinity of the latest quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Over the past eight days, 45 earthquakes of magnitude-4.5 or greater have occurred nearby.

About 12 hours before this event, a magnitude-6.6 quake struck about 37 miles southwest of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, at a depth of about 15 miles, the USGS said.

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