MELBOURNE, Australia
Crowds at a football tournament in the eastern Solomon Islands ran for shelter early Saturday after a tsunami warning was given following a strong earthquake.
Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported a spokesman for police in the provincial capital of the Santa Cruz Islands in the South Pacific as saying that the violent shaking lasted for around two minutes.
He said that the crowds ran to seek shelter on a nearby plateau after the warning was issued.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tremor measured 6.9, down from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.
It hit at a depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles) and was centered undersea 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Lata in the eastern Solomon Islands.
The tsunami threat was later canceled and no damage or casualties were reported.
RNZ reported police as saying the sea rose by about 20 centimetres, changing colour from blue to green.
In February 2013, a tsunami killed at least 10 people in the region following a magnitude 8 tremor.
