NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale jolted 68km WSW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands at 17:38:47 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
"Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters...widespread hazardous Tsunami waves are possible," said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).
The USGS initially put the magnitude at 8.0.
The epicenter, with a depth of 48.66 km, was initially determined to be at 10.6741 degrees south latitude and 161.3351 degrees east longitude.
The PTWC warned that Tsunami waves caused by the earthquake might affect within the next three hours some coasts of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and other south Pacific areas.
