Two earthquakes measuring about 7.6 on the Richter scale generated a tsunami that completely flooded the towns of Gizo and Noro.
Aleks Lokopio said the data on the dead refers only to the town of Gizo and surrounding areas, as there was simply no information from other areas devastated by the tsunami.
Earlier, Alfred Maesulia, a spokesman for the government of the island chain nation, said the tsunami waves were up to 10 meters (30 feet) high and, according to previous estimates killed six people.
"In some coastal regions [of the Solomon Islands] waves of up to 10 meters [30 feet] high have washed away villages and destroyed homes," Alfred Maesulia said, adding that many villagers were still missing.
PFnet, a local information news wire, reported that the waves, which reached some 200 meters (600 feet) inland and destroying several villages, were the highest ever to hit the Solomon Islands.
The islands are a popular venue among international tourists, and local resident rely mainly on fishing and tourism.
The most powerful and disastrous natural calamity involving a tsunami over the last 40 years occurred in December, 2004, when an earthquake measuring nine on the Richter scale in the Indian Ocean generated a tsunami that hit South Asian countries, particularly Indonesia, killing more than 280,000 people. Tens of thousands of people were reported missing.
