Fiji issued a tsunami warning Wednesday afternoon after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck near Solomon Islands, urging residents, especially coastal low lying dwellers to take precautionary measures as "we have only one hour left for the first wave to hit our shores".

A potential tsunami has confirmed being generated and a " tsunami warning is now issued for the whole republic of the Fiji Islands especially coastal low lying dwellers", said an urgent statement from Fiji's Ministry of Information.

"Tsunami warning is in force for the whole country and we advise all residents on low lying coastal areas to please evacuate to higher safe zones and grounds nearby as soon as possible for safety purposes," the statement said, "Those already on higher grounds are advice to take precautions and remain where you are for easing the evacuation process of low lying coastal dwellers during this hard times."

Fiji's Seismology Observatory in conjunction of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center "will issue respective bulletins for every thirty minutes until cancellation as we will be closely monitoring all the tide gauges readings within the Pacific Ocean along the directivity of the tsunami waves impact," said the statement.

A magnitude 8.0 quake struck at 0112 GMT near the Santa Cruz Islands, which are part of the South Pacific nation of Solomon Islands, from a depth of 5.8 kilometers. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for the South Pacific region, including Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna.

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