A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea’s New Britain island on today just before 7am local time. The quake hit about 200km south-west of the town of Rabaul at a depth of almost 40km and there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake was initially recorded with a magnitude of 7.3 but was downgraded. At least two aftershocks with a magnitude greater than 5 shortly followed.
“We felt the earthquake a bit, but it was not too strong,” constable Roy Michael told Reuters by phone from Rabaul police station.
He said there was no damage in the town, but officers had not yet been able to contact villages closer to the epicentre.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned hazardous tsunami waves were possible in coastal areas 300km from the epicentre. It later revised its forecast saying: “Based on all available data the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed.”
The USGS website said there was a “low likelihood of casualties and damage” from the quake. But it warned that “recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as tsunamis, landslides and liquefaction that might have contributed to losses.”
>Juthy Saha
Magnitude 7 Earthquake hits Papua New Guinea
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