About 500 homes have been damaged or destroyed when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the Solomon Islands. Officials said this assessment could be made following a reconnaissance flight over remote islands near the epicentre. Disaster Management Office spokesman Julian Makaa said there are 500 homes that have been affected but not all have been totally destroyed. He said it was possible thousands of people could be homeless, but an exact assessment could not be made until ground parties arrived on Tuesday. Mr Makaa said a patrol boat carrying water, food and tarpaulins was dispatched from the capital Honiara for the worst affected areas of Rendova Island and Marova Lagoon, about 300 kilometres away. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 103 kilometres from the island town of Gizo, the Solomons' second largest city this morning and was measured at a depth of about 30 kilometres.