At least six people have been killed by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that jolted the Solomon Islands.

The earthquake caused small tsunami waves to lap Pacific coastlines and emergency sirens to blare evacuation warnings.

Solomons officials reported two waves hit the western side of Santa Cruz Island, damaging about 50 homes and properties, said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister.

Australia's earthquake monitoring agency and the Pacific centre said the biggest tsunami wave measured was 91cm high, at Lata, on the main Santa Cruz island of Ndende.

Many villagers had moved to higher ground as a precaution, Herming said.

Vanuatu and New Caledonia also reported rising sea levels before a region-wide tsunami alert was lifted.

Sirens were heard in Fiji. 'Chaos in the streets of Suva as everyone tries to avoid the tsunami!!' tweeted Ratu Nemani Tebana from the Fiji capital Suva.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre cancelled its regional alert at 1450 AEDT, about two and a half hours after the quake struck.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit the Santa Cruz Islands in Temotu province, which have been rocked by a series of strong tremors over the past week, at a shallow depth of 5.8 kilometres.

Temotu is the easternmost province of the Solomons, about a three-hour flight from the capital, Honiara. The region has a population of about 30,000.

Read more:

Solomon Islands quake kills six