A huge aftershock has rocked the Solomon Islands, sending villagers fleeing to higher ground two days after an 8.0 magnitude quake and tsunami killed 13 people.

The 7.1 magnitude tremor on Friday was the latest in a series of aftershocks that have been hampering relief efforts on Ndende island in the eastern Solomons, where Wednesdays tsunami inundated some 20 villages and left thousands homeless.

The latest quake, at a shallow depth of nine kilometres, and just 23 kilometres from the main town, Lata, rocked buildings for 30 to 40 seconds, national disaster management office spokesman Sipuru Rove said.

Rove, who was in the coastal town when the tremor hit, said villagers fled for higher ground.

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The aftershocks have prevented villagers from returning home and hampered their efforts to salvage supplies from damaged houses and bring them to makeshift camps in the rugged interior.

Planes attempting to fly aid to the area have been wary of landing at the damaged airstrip in Lata amid the continuing quakes.

Geoscience Australia said while the latest tremor was smaller than the one which caused the destructive tsunami, as it was much closer to the island of Ndende the intensity of the shaking would have been much greater.

Seismologist David Jepsen said there were no reports of a tsunami wave, and if one was generated it would be smaller than two days ago.

I was more worried about the shaking aspect, he said. This could have caused further issues.

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Solomon Islands villagers flee huge aftershock