The 6.8 magnitude quake was centered about 130 miles to the southeast of the capital, Honiara, at 8:40 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency said the epicenter was at a depth of about 37 miles.
The Solomon Islands are jolted regularly by offshore tremors, but some have produced considerable damage and fatalities in the past.
An 8.1 magnitude quake in April 2007 killed more than 50 people and made thousands homeless. A resulting tsunami wiped out wharves and jetties in Gizo Harbor.
The strongest in a series of powerful quakes in early January of this year generated a tsunami that devastated one village, but its residents had fled to higher ground before the ocean surge arrived.