Power is still out in Papua New Guinea's East New Britain province after last night's magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

Photo: United States Geological Survey

The shallow quake hit about 50 kilometres offshore from Rabaul, triggering violent shaking and widespread panic.

It triggered an initial tsunami warning, though local officials said no waves were observed nor any casualties yet reported, with a full assessment of damage not possible until daybreak.

Namatanai district on New Ireland is the populated area closest to the epicentre.

The MP for Namatanai, Walter Schnaubelt, says preliminary reports from his district indicate the violent shaking caused numerous houses in Konoagil sub-district to fall over.

He says no deaths have been reported, but is waiting for a more extensive report from a district team that has been dispatched to assess damage.

Meanwhile, MP Jelta Wong for Gazelle district in East New Britain, some 33km to the west of the quake epicentre said he was waiting on a rapid assessment but there had been a lot of damage from the quake.

The districts close to the epicentre have all experienced power outages.

"It was very, very violent," said Frank Kilaur, a sergeant at the Rabaul police station said after the quake. "It was very strong and shook the whole place up.

"At the moment there's no damage, but we have to wait until daylight, we're in pitch black right now."

"We will have some more reports, probably in the morning, so we will wait. We are okay here."

In an update this afternoon, the national provider PNG Power says electricity has not yet been restored to the East New Britain grid.

The company said two power stations suffered minor damage and will need to be repaired.

It said work is under way to check generators and power lines.

Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

Mr Kilaur said the earthquake had sent panicked residents fleeing into the streets, although he said the town quietened down again soon after. There had been violent aftershocks through the night, he said.

An initial scan by torchlight showed no significant damage in the town, he said, adding that authorities were waiting for daylight to conduct a more thorough assessment.

The police were yet to hear from remote areas outside of the town, and from small islands closer to the epicentre, he added.

A spokesperson for the district's Nonga Hospital said no one had been taken there needing treatment.

There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the M7.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION PAPUA NEW GUINEA earthquake. Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to NZ. https://t.co/ccVFYQQoBr — MCDEM (@NZcivildefence) May 14, 2019

The shallow earthquake trigged an initial tsunami warning for Papua New Guinea and nearby Solomon Islands, with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre forecasting a surge as high as one metre.

But early on Wednesday, the centre said the threat had largely passed with no reports of tsunami waves.

Don Tokunai, a disaster official on Rabaul, said villagers close to the epicentre had reported the ocean receding, but there was no tsunami wave.

"They said they just woke up and felt the shake, but that they are still okay there," he said.

"As yet we haven't received any information about damage," he said.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, sitting on the Pacific's Ring of Fire. Tuesday's tremor was the third earthquake in three months with a magnitude higher than seven.

Rabaul itself is no stranger to natural disaster either, with much of the town buried by ash in a 1994 volcanic eruption.

For updates during the day on the quake's aftermath see RNZ Pacific News

- RNZ Pacific / Reuters </s> SYDNEY (Reuters) - People living along Papua New Guinea’s coastline fled to higher ground on Saturday after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck east of the Pacific nation, triggering a tsunami warning for parts of its archipelago.

A couple of hours after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the threat had largely passed, although it said government agencies should continue to monitor coastal tides.

“Based on all available data ... the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed,” the PTWC said in an updated and final alert after the quake, which struck 157 km (98 miles) east of Rabaul.

The major tremor initially triggered a more widespread tsunami warning for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, but that was pulled back after the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) downgraded the magnitude slightly from 8. It also revised the depth of the tremor to 103.2 km from its original estimate of 73 kms.

Many residents in the northern parts of the autonomous region of Bougainville sought higher ground amid warnings that tsunami waves were possible.

“The town residents have vacated the whole place; those in the villages live higher up, so they’re ok, it’s just those near the coast,” local resident Christabel Biasu told Reuters by phone.

Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties after Saturday’s major tremor.

A nurse at Buka General Hospital in Bougainville said the quake was so strong it felt like the building she was sleeping in would topple. She said patients were being moved a few kilometers to higher ground.

“We have about 16 beds,” she told Reuters by phone, declining to give her name. “Most of them are already a suburb up.”

The small Pacific nation of Nauru, where one of Australia’s offshore immigration detention centers is located, had a tsunami warning in place, according to the official government Twitter account.

Related Coverage New Zealand issues tsunami warning after quake off Papua New Guinea

Residents in other parts of Papua New Guinea, including the capital of Port Moresby and Kavieng in the northern tip of New Ireland island, said they had not felt the quake, and no evacuation plans were in place.

New Zealand also canceled an earlier tsunami warning. </s> A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea Sunday, shaking homes and sparking a tsunami alert, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

The tsunami warning for the Pacific island nation and its neighbours was later cancelled.

The tremor struck 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Panguna on Papua New Guinea's Bougainville island at a depth of 153 kilometres at 3:30 pm local time (0430 GMT), the US Geological Survey said.

No reports of damage or injuries have emerged so far, said the PNG Geophysical Observatory in the capital Port Moresby.

"But we know that given such a depth at which the earthquake happened, the chances of any major damage or casualties are not highly likely," spokesman Mathew Moihoi told AFP.

"Had there been any major disturbances or damage, we would have known by now," he said, adding that the area where the quake struck was sparsely populated.

USGS's preliminary assessment was that light to moderate damage was possible on Bougainville island. The quake was revised down from 8.0-magnitude to 7.9.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of between 0.3 and one metre (1-3 feet) above tide level were possible for some coastal areas of PNG and the neighbouring Solomon Islands.

The center issued another statement about an hour later to say that threat had passed.

"Even though it is quite deep at 150 kilometres, because it is such a large earthquake, it will produce shaking on the surface," Geoscience Australia seismologist Spiro Spiliopoulos told AFP earlier.

He added that some damage was possible.

Aid group Save the Children has a office on Buka island next to the main Bougainville island.

Its PNG country director Jennifer El-Sibai described the quake as "really powerful" but said no reports of damage had been received so far.

Connie Wihongi-Stevens posted on Facebook that her husband, who is working in Arawa some 46 kilometres west of where the quake struck, was safe but shaken.

"The home he was in shook terribly and people were running everywhere cars rocking to and fro not nice hoping to hear from him when the power comes back on," she wrote.

Story continues

A 7.9-magnitude quake struck off Papua New Guinea in mid-December, but no casualties were reported and an initial tsunami threat was later deemed to have passed.

Earthquakes are common near Papua New Guinea, which lies on the 4,000-kilometre-long Pacific Australia plate.

It forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

In 2013 the Solomon Islands were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the region. That tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless. </s> A major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no immediate casualties were reported and an initial tsunami threat was later deemed to have passed.

The earthquake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time (4.21 p.m. IST) at a depth of some 75 km, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially warned hazardous waves could hit coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nauru, the Solomon Islands and others.

But two hours after the quake, the PTWC said the threat had passed, despite some tsunami waves having been observed.

New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence also briefly issued a tsunami warning for all of the country's coast.

“Large #earthquake in PNG. Our team reports that people moving to higher ground in some areas due to #tsunami potential," Oxfam in the Pacific tweeted.

But Geoscience Australia seismologist Dan Jaksa downplayed the severity of the quake, noting its depth made the likelihood of a tsunami "low".

"This region of PNG is also pretty remote and very, very sparsely populated," he added.

"There would definitely have been shaking, in fact we logged it as shaking felt as much as 3,400 kilometres away, which would include population centres like Rabaul (on Papua New Guinea's New Britain island).

"But it was far enough away for the shaking to not be strong."

The USGS said on its website that "some casualties and damage are possible and the impact should be relatively localized."

Several aftershocks struck the area, the USGS said, the largest of which was a 6.3-magnitude quake.

Earthquakes are common near Papua New Guinea, which lies on the 4,000-kilometre-long Pacific Australia plate, which forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

In 2013 the neighbouring Solomon Islands were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the region. That tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless. </s> SYDNEY (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea on Saturday, and a tsunami threat was issued to areas near the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The magnitude-7.9 quake struck 46 kilometers (29 miles) east of Taron in Papua New Guinea, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake was deep, at 103 kilometers (61 miles). Deeper earthquakes tend to cause less damage than shallow ones.

The USGS initially said the quake’s magnitude was 8.0, but later downgraded the strength.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a threat of a tsunami in Papua New Guinea and nearby areas. It said tsunami waves reaching 1-3 meters (yards) high were possible along the coasts of Papua New Guinea, while waves in other areas, including the Solomon Islands, would likely be less than 0.3 meter (1 foot) high.

The quake rattled residents near the epicenter on the island of New Ireland, but was not felt in Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, said Mathew Moihoi, an official with the Geophysical Observatory. There were no immediate reports of damage, though officials were still assessing the situation, he said.

Papua New Guinea sits on the Ring of Fire, the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common. </s> Tsunami warnings were issued for several nations today after a major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the US Geological Survey said.

The PTWC said hazardous tsunami waves could hit coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nauru, and the Solomon Islands, while New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence issued a warning for all of the country’s coast.

The earthquake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time (1051 GMT) at a depth of some 75 km, the USGS said.

The quake was originally recorded at 8.0 before being revised down to 7.9.

“Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking…Some casualties and damage are possible,” the USGS said on its website as it issued a yellow alert for shaking-related fatalities and losses.

Quakes are common near Papua New Guinea, which lies on the 4,000-kilometre-long Pacific Australia plate, which forms part of the “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

In 2013 the neighbouring Solomon Islands were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the region. That tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless. </s> A powerful magnitude 8 earthquake hit the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Sunday, but no tsunami was reported hours after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert for nearby islands. 

 

 The quake struck at a depth of 167 kilometers (103 miles) under Papua New Guinea’s most eastern province of Bougainville, where the two South Pacific countries meet in a continuous archipelago, said Chris McKee, assistant director of Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby. 

 

 There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

 

 The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, McKee said.

 

 “I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami,” McKee said.

 

 Solomons government official George Herming said he was not aware of any major tremors being felt in his country or any tsunami.

 

 The countries are in the Pacific’s geologically active “Ring of Fire.” </s> A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Papua New Guinea’s New Britain island on Friday, triggering a tsunami warning for surrounding coastlines.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the shallow quake close to the coast, about 162km southwest of Rabaul.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) issued a threat warning for the country’s coastline located within 300km of the quake’s epicentre, but later advised that the threat had passed.

“Government agencies responsible for threatened coastal areas should take action to inform and instruct any coastal populations at risk,” the PTWC said in its alert. “Persons located in threatened coastal areas should stay alert for information.”

Australian authorities said there was no threat to the Australian coastline from the quake, which was initially reported as a magnitude 7.2.

Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries, is still reeling a month after a magnitude 7.5 quake in its rugged and remote highlands, killing at least 100 people as landslides buried villages. – Reuters </s> A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Sunday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage after a potential tsunami did not occur.

The United States Geological Survey downgraded the quake from an initial measurement of magnitude 8. It struck some 47 kms west of Arawa on the north coast of Bougainville Island at a depth of 154 km, the USGS reported.

An initial tsunami alert for several Pacific islands was wound back to cover just PNG and the neighboring Solomon Islands and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the tsunami threat had passed safely for those countries.

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Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Loti Yates, the director of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office, said people had been told to move to higher ground in Choiseul and Western Province.

Chris McKee, assistant director at PNG’s Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby, said there were no initial reports of damage or casualties from near the epicenter of the quake, which is sparsely populated.

Australia and New Zealand both said they had assessed the threat and there was no danger to their coastlines.

Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville within Papua New Guinea (PNG) which is home to around 300,000 people.
A 7.5 MMS quake rattles New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Police Sergeant Frank Kilaur says that the quake was "very, very violent" but no immediate reports of major damages or casualties have been reported. A tsunami alert is issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The tsunami threat has now largely passed.