南太平洋強烈地震數人死亡

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 orities 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.南太平洋海域星期三發生強烈地震後發生海嘯，有報道說，一些島嶼數十所房屋被毀壞，幾人死亡。

這次8級地震發生在所羅門羣島附近一個人煙稀少的地區。地震引起1米高的海嘯衝擊。該地區曾經發布海嘯警報，隨後警報被取消。

美國地質調查局的地震專家格蘭特對美國之音說，至少發生了14次5級或5級以上的餘震。

美國地質調查局說，發生在國際標準時間1點12分的這次地震位於所羅門羣島的聖克魯斯羣島附近，震源深度大約爲六公里。

據報道，聖克魯斯羣島有至少六人死亡。當局正在調查有關偏僻地區幾個村莊受損或被毀的報道。目前還不清楚遇難者是死於地震還是死於海嘯。