A tsunami warning was cancelled for Papua New Guinea after a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake.
The quake was shallow, striking the Pacific island nation at a depth of 10km on Saturday morning (local time). It was epicentred offshore, 194km east of the town of Kimbe, on the island of New Britain.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later called off an alert immediately after the jolt that warned of 1 to 3 metres waves along some parts of the Papua New Guinea coastline. A caution about smaller waves of 0.3m 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 neighbour. 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.
