Solomon Islands tsunami deaths confirmed

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the Solomon Islands has sparked a tsunami warning for the island nations of the south Pacific, with houses reported damaged in the Solomons. Local officials reported two 1.5-metre waves hitting the western side of Santa

Still images show Lata in the Solomon Islands where a Tsunami on Wednesday left villages and homes ruined. Nine people died after the wave, caused by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, swept across Santa Cruz island on the eastern edge of the Solomons.

SYDNEY — Six bodies, including a child's, have been found in the sodden wreckage left by a tsunami that smashed into villages in the Solomon Islands, flattening dozens of homes in the South Pacific island chain.

Conditions in Honiara were described as calm, although some residents had moved away from coastal areas as a precaution, said Chris Nemaia, an official at the Solomon Islands Visitor Bureau. "People are already up on the higher grounds," he said.

A powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated a small, but deadly tsunami on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. The 8.0 magnitude temblor, which struck near the town of Lata, on Santa Cruz in Temotu