This map shows the location of a powerful quake that struck Solomon Islands on Tuesday. Phivolcs
MANILA — There is no threat of a tsunami anywhere in the Philippines on Tuesday after a strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, state seismologists said.
Eyewitnesses reported shaking that hurled other items to the ground due to the quake at 10:03 a.m.
While hazardous waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometers of the tremor's epicenter, there is "no tsunami threat to the Philippines from this earthquake," the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
The earthquake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, just off the southwest coast of Guadalcanal island.
"This was a big one," Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital Honiara, told AFP. "Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone seems OK, but panicky."
An AFP reporter in the capital said the shaking lasted for around 20 seconds.
There were no immediate reports of serious structural damage to buildings, but power was out in some areas of the city and people were rushing from their offices and fleeing to higher ground.
The nation's attorney general, John Muria, posted images on social media of office files spilled from large metal filing cabinets.
The USGS revised the earthquake's magnitude down from an initial 7.3.
A tsunami warning was issued for an area of the Solomons coast within 300 kilometers of the epicenter.
"Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level are possible for some coasts" in the area, a UN-backed Pacific warning system said.
Some coastal regions of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu were also put on alert for tsunami waves of up to 12 inches.
According to UN data, about 20,000 people live within 50 kilometers of the epicenter.
The Solomons -- a sprawling archipelago in the South Pacific -- is home to about 800,000 people.
— With a report from Agence France-Presse