B.C. says no risk of tsunami from earthquake in the South Pacific

VANCOUVER – British Columbia says there is no risk of a tsunami reaching the province’s coastline following a powerful earthquake in the South Pacific.

The United States Geological Survey says a magnitude 7.8 tremor hit near the Solomon Islands, about 1,750 kilometres northeast of Australia, around 9:30 a.m. PST.

Emergency Management B.C. says it was monitoring the situation because quakes of this size are known to produce tsunamis far from the source region.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a tsunami watch for Hawaii, but it lifted the notice later in the morning.

A watch is the lowest level of alert.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the earthquake originated 175 kilometres from Australia.