南太平洋强烈地震数人死亡

A powerful earthquake shook islands in the South Pacific Wednesday, triggeringa regional tsunami that reports say destroyed dozens of homes and killedseveral people.

The magnitude-8 quake hit a sparsely populated region near the Solomon Islands. A one-meter tsunami later washed ashore on the island chain. A region-wide tsunami alert was lifted a short time later.

Seismologist Dale Grant with the U.S. Geological Survey tells VOA the initialquake was followed by at least 14 aftershocks of magnitude-5 or bigger.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the initial quake struck at 0112 UTC nearthe Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomons at a depth of about six kilometers.

At least six people have been reported killed in the Santa Cruz Islands.Authorities also are investigating reports that several villages were damagedor destroyed in the hard-to-reach area. It was not clear whether the deathswere the result of the earthquake or the tsunami.