Quote:

“On September 2nd, 2007, at 12:05 PM local time (01:05 AM UTC) an earthquake occurred south of the Santa Cruz Islands (Solomon Islands) with a magnitude Mw 6.9 (USGS)/7.3 (Japan Meteorological Agency) in a depth of about 35 kilometres. Because of the earthquake magnitude and the relatively shallow location of the epicentre, there was a concrete danger of a destructive local tsunami. Therefore, the subscribers of the Tsunami Alarm System were informed of the event immediately after the earthquake. After about two hours, measurements in Vanuatu confirmed that at least a small tsunami had been generated. Because of this, the alarm state had to be maintained. At 07:30 AM UTC, it became clear that a destructive tsunami was no longer expected. It was then possible to send an All-Clear Signal to the subscribers of the Tsunami Alarm System.

Geological background: The geological fault system on which this earthquake occurred is part of the circumpacific “Ring of Fire”. In the region of the Solomon Islands, the Indo-Australian plate subducts under the Pacific Plate, being the cause of a high number of strong earthquakes. Because of the regional geological setting, a large number of these earthquakes occur close to the earth surface combined with strong vertical movements. According to preliminary calculations, this was also the case with yesterday’s earthquake. These characteristics facilitate the formation of tsunamis. In the last 100 years, 30 tsunamis where reported in this region, the last one on April 2nd 2007. In this tsunami event, more than 50 people lost their lives and over 2000 homes were destroyed.

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Best Regards
Your Tsunami Institute Team

Sources:
Tsunami Institute Tuebingen, Germany
United States Geological Service (2007): Earthquake Summary.
02.09.2007