SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Undersea earthquakes caused panic  in the South Pacific yesterday, sending islanders fleeing to  higher ground on fears of a second devastating tsunami in as  many weeks, but the wave proved to be tiny and harmless.  

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning  for the entire southwest Pacific, which included island resorts  and Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, after the quakes  struck beneath the seas between Vanuatu and the Solomon  Islands.  

Hawaii and the Philippines were placed on tsunami watch.  

The Center cancelled its warning after a 4 cm tsunami was  recorded at Lunganville on Espiritu Santo island in Vanuatu.  

But with memories still fresh of a destructive tsunami last  week that killed some 150 people in American Samoa and Samoa,  many islanders panicked when the quake hit and tsunami warnings  were issued in each nation.