A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate tsunami warning issued. The tremor, at a depth of 72 kilometres, hit at 4.16 am local time (17:16 GMT Thursday) 81 km south of the town of Panguna in Papua New Guinea. The USGS issued a ‘green alert’, to say there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage. In February the remote town of Lata was hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake. The tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless.