Site of the April 1st 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake, satellite image. The magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred at 20:30 GMT on 1st April (07:39 on 2nd April local time). Its focus was 10 kilometres below the seabed to the left (west) of Rendova island (lower left). A tsunami caused by the earthquake reached the Solomon Islands before an official warning, although many felt the earthquake and had fled to high ground. The waves were up to ten metres high in places, and killed dozens and left more than 5000 people homeless. The Solomon Islands lie on the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate, in the so-called Ring of Fire, which experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Image taken by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument on the Landsat 7 satellite.