Attachments
A. HIGHLIGHTS
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A shallow earthquake of Magnitude 7.3 at the depth of 10km occurred at Southwest Guadalcanal at 1203hrs on 22 November 2022
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No Tsunami warning was issued, with advices for rips and currents along coastal area closer to the epicentre of the Earthquake
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National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) is activated on full-on activation as at 1:00pm and established communications with provincial PEOCs to ascertain the scope and scale of the earthquake impacts
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The NEOC has deployed an initial situation overview to ascertain the scope and scale of the earthquake impact on Southwest Guadalcanal, supported by the Australian Government through the AFP-RAPPP
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National Disaster Operations Committee meeting held to brief all sectors on the current situation.
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A total of 38 aftershocks where recorded as at 1:00am this morning. Magnitude ranges from 3 to 5 rector scale and within the hypocentre of the main shock.
B. SITUATION OVERVIEW
At 12:03 PM (local time) Tuesday 22nd November 2022, a shallow earthquake of 7.3 Magnitude at depth of 10km occurred at Latitude 9.79 Degrees South, and Longitude of 159.62 degrees East of Guadalcanal Island. The epicentre was recorded at approximately 55 Km of Honiara, 100 km of Aola, 107 Km of Manakaraku Marau, 97Km of Tulagi and 165 Km of Auki. A no tsunami threat was issued by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service at 2pm however tide gauges in Honiara reported increased wave heights of 0.3 meters. Aftershocks continue to be recorded prompting authorities to caution the public about the potential structural collapse of buildings should the tremors continue.
As at 1:00am total of 38 aftershocks occurred, with magnitude ranging from 3- 5 mb and a depth of 10 km were recorded (see annex 3). This indicates that the aftershocks are slowly decreasing and is expected to ease within days after the main event. Aftershocks are expected to occur within the next 24 hours within the hypocentre of the main shock, that is within South Guadalcanal.