MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - At least five people were reported dead after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean early on Wednesday, Australia's ABC News reported.

The quake was reportedly 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles) deep near the Santa Cruz islands, part of the Solomon Islands nation, the BBC reported.

Those who died were in the Lata district of the Santa Cruz islands, according to a Solomon Islands police official, ABC reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna islands.

A tsunami watch was in effect for more places, in particular Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia.

(A previous version of this story was posted earlier with a different headline and without casualty figures in the lead)