A moderate earthquake toppled several houses on Sunday in the Solomon Islands near where a quake and tsunami killed 52 people early this month, an official said.
The United States Geological Survey reported that a magnitude-5,4 quake struck mid-afternoon local time 40km south-east of the region’s main town of Gizo and 10km beneath the Earth’s crust.
Provincial government member and Gizo dive-shop manager Danny Kennedy said there were reports of houses being toppled on the island of Mono in the western Solomons, but Gizo appeared to have suffered little damage. There were no reports of casualties.
”It certainly shook us quite a lot,” Kennedy said.
The quake was too small to pose a tsunami risk.
A magnitude-8,1 quake and tsunami on April 2 killed 52 people, including 33 on Gizo island. — Sapa-AP