Big jolt rattles Solomons

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands last night, but it did not generate a tsunami.

The epicentre was centred about 97km southwest of the islands and struck just after 8.30pm, local time.

As of press time, there were no reports of major damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially said the quake could generate "destructive" local tsunamis. But a second report released said based on the data available, there were no tsunami threats anywhere.