The quake struck at 10.50pm (local time), 70 kilometres south-southeast of Kira Kira, which is located on San Cristobal island, the US Geological Survey said.
It occurred 41.6 kilometres under the seabed and there had been no reports of damage, the organisation said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said in a statement that a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected following the quake.
But it said in an earlier bulletin that such quakes sometimes generated local tsunamis that could be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometres of the epicentre.
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake in the western Solomons in April triggered a tsunami that killed more than 50 people and displaced thousands. - RIA novosti
Add new comment