Seven earthquakes strike Solomon Islands

HONIARA, Solomon Islands, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey said the Solomon Islands were hit by seven earthquakes Monday morning, with the strongest registering a magnitude of 7.2.

CNN reported the string of earthquakes struck the island country during a 10-hour period starting at 8:48 a.m. local time and resulted in a total of 16 homes being destroyed and one village being evacuated.

The National Disaster Management Office said an additional 60 homes were damaged by the quakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first quake to hit the region had a magnitude of 6.5 and was followed by the 7.2-magnitude quake and five additional quakes with a magnitude of at least 5.0.