A tsunami warning was canceled for Papua New Guinea after a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was shallow, striking the Pacific island nation at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) on Saturday morning local time. It was centered offshore, 194 km (120 miles) east of the town of Kimbe, on the island of New Britain.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later called off an alert issued immediately after the jolt that warned of waves of 1 to 3 meters along some parts of the Papua New Guinea coastline. A caution about smaller waves of 0.3 m issued for nearby Solomon Islands was also called off.
There were no immediate reports of damage. Just over 500,000 people live on the island of New Britain.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat to the country, which is Papua New Guinea’s closest neighbor. No warning was issued for New Zealand.
Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world’s earthquake and volcanic activity occurs.
Source: AP
--Agencies
