NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted 69km WSW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands at 17:38:46 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 41.0 km, was initially determined to be at 10.676 degrees south latitude and 161.3298 degrees east longitude.