Magnitude 7.5 Quake Strikes Off Papua New Guinea
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck off Papua New Guinea late Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A tsunami warning was issued for Papua and the Solomon Islands by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, but it later cancelled the alert.
The quake struck 75 kilometers (47 miles) southwest of the town of Panguna on Bougainville island at a depth of 30 kilometers just before 11:30 pm (1330 GMT), USGS said.
The seismologists said another 5.6-magnitude quake hit the same area around 20 minutes later at a depth of 69 kilometers.
Earlier Saturday, USGS reported that a 6.6-magnitude tremor had occurred in the same area.
Quakes of such magnitude are common in Papua, which sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
Last year in February the remote town of Lata in the Solomons was hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake. The tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless.
Source: Agence France Presse
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