Small Tsunami Hits Solomon Islands after 8.0 Magnitude Earthquake [UPDATE]

A small tsunami was all that came of a warning issued late Tuesday (US eastern standard time). Now it is presumed that many are missing or dead in the South pacific.

Update 6:55am Wednesday - Officials on the Solomon Islands report waves of near 5 feet tall hitting the shores. ABC News reports that nearly 100 homes were damaged during the tsunami. The Police Chief on the Solomon Islands says that he believes many are presumed dead.

Four villages on Santa Cruz were hit by the waves, and one of them is considered highly damaged. It's making it hard for disaster crews to get to the remote area in the South Pacific, because the tsunami flooded airstrips, and left them covered in debris.

The 8.0 magnitude earthquake that is what started it all is confirmed to have happened near the town of Lata on Santa Cruz.

After the small tsunami hit, all other warning were cancelled. Now it's just the clean up process.

AccuWeather is reporting that multiple quakes happened within 30 minutes, with the 8.0 being the strongest of them.