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A second powerful earthquake is likely to hit the Solomon Islands within days following a magnitude 8.0 tremor early on Monday, a leading Australian seismologist said.

Professor Kevin McCue, director of the Australian Seismological Centre, said historical evidence suggested that a major earthquake was usually followed by another of similar magnitude.

"We should be aware that there is a better than 50-50 chance that there'll be another magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the Solomon Islands in the next few hours to the next few weeks," he told Australian the agency.

"This happened in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1977, so we have a good track record of this kind of thing happening," said McCue, who previously headed the earthquake hazard programme at Geoscience Australia.

A powerful 8.0 magnitude quake hit the Solomon Islands early on Monday, triggering a wall of water which swamped towns, flattened houses and washed away buildings in the west of the archipelago.