THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS - POWERFUL 7.9 EARTHQUAKE HITS THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

Powerful 7.9 earthquake hits the Solomon Islands

BY MICHAEL ON JANUARY 22, 2017

A powerful magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck deep under Papua New Guinea on Sunday, causing damage and blackouts but no tsunami hours after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert for nearby islands.

The mid-afternoon quake struck at a depth of 167 kilometers (103 miles) beneath the eastern province of Bougainville, where Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands meet in a continuous South Pacific archipelago, said Chris McKee, assistant director of Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby.