This file photo dated 28 July, 2003 shows Kennedy Island (front) sitting atop its own reef in the remote Western Province of the Solomon Islands. A powerful undersea earthquake unleashed a tsunami that pounded the Solomon Islands early Monday, flattening villages and killing at least six people and sparking scenes of panic, officials said.(Xinhua)

Initial reports from the two islands of Choiseul and Western Province of Solomon Islands indicated Monday that ten people have died from the giant tidal wave following the strong earthquake in the morning.

The premier of Western Province, Alex Lokopio, said more casualties are expected from the tsunami that caught the people in the western islands of Solomon Islands unawares as they went about their daily chores.

The earthquake of 8.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale struck at around 7:30 a.m. Solomons time 10 km deep and around 45 km from Gizo, the capital of Western province.

Solomon Islands lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" where volcanic activity and earthquakes are relatively common

The premier of Choiseul province, Jackson Kiloe, described the sea changes on the western coast of Choiseul as strangely frightening.

He said the activities involved huge rolling waves which repeatedly caused dry seabeds and exposed fish and other marine life.

Speaking from Taro, he said residents in coastal areas moved to higher ground.

In Sasamunga, a village south of Choiseul, huge waves destroyed the whole village, including a village health clinic and a number of schools along the coast. Two people were confirmed dead.

The chairman of the National Disaster Council, Fred Fakari, said there were unconfirmed reports of deaths but that information on the extent of the damage caused by the tsunami remains sketchy.

Fakari said the disaster council decided not to declare a state of emergency following a meeting because of the lack of information.

He said there was still no idea about damage or casualties in more isolated areas in the west.

Phone lines and electricity were down in Gizo, hampering efforts to find out the extent of the damage.

Charles Tennat of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation said at least ten houses have been swept away to the sea.

"With a number of buildings going down because of the earthquake which caused major damage to the shorefront. In Gino itself too people have been helping others on the lower ground, taking property and even sick patients were carried up to higher ground."

A series of aftershocks, with a magnitude of up to 6.7 continued to rock the area during the day.

"The tsunami destroyed all the homes along the coast here in the Western Province. Hundreds of people are homeless and there is a heavy damage on the infrastructure. Right now, we are moving people to higher grounds," said Lokopio.

A Solomons government patrol boat is being sent from Honiara to assess the situation.

Editor: Yan