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.

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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>Papua New Guinea earthquake: Tsunami threat passes after magnitude-7.9 tremor near Bougainville

Updated

A magnitude-7.9 earthquake has struck off the coast of Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, causing damage and blackouts but no tsunami.

The quake struck at 3:30pm (AEDT) at a depth of 136 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey said. It was initially reported to be of magnitude 8.0.

No casualties were reported, but there was damage in parts of central Bougainville and the major town of Arawa, Aloysius Laukai, manager of New Dawn FM Bougainville radio station, said in an email.

The provincial capital of Buka was blacked out and residents of the southern town of Buin were moved to higher ground as a precaution against a potential tsunami, Mr Laukai said, but all tsunami warnings were later lifted.

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

The Bureau of Meteorology also confirmed that there was no tsunami threat to Australia.

The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, said Chris McKee, assistant director at PNG's Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby.

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

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

Earthquakes are common in PNG, which sits on the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire', a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville within PNG which is home to around 300,000 people.

Reuters/AP

Topics: earthquake, disasters-and-accidents, papua-new-guinea, pacific

First posted</s></s>A magnitude 8.0 earthquake has hit the Solomon Islands, the US Geological Survey has reported.

The quake hit at a depth of 153km at 5.30pm NZ time.

New Zealand Civil Defence has said that there is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the earthquake.</s>FOR LIVE UPDATES: Twitter The earthquake, which struck at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, was centered about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northwest of Panguna, a town on Bougainville Island that is located northeast of mainland Papua New Guinea and is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which put the preliminary magnitude at 8.4, said the earthquake struck at a depth of 168 kilometers (104 miles), making it a relatively deep quake. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the preliminary magnitude at 8.0. As a result, a tsunami alert has been issued for Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Vanuatu, and Chuuk. "Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.There was no immediate word about damage, casualties, or whether a tsunami had in fact been generated.There is no tsunami threat to the Philippines, Hawaii, or the coastlines of the mainland of the United States and Canada.The Solomon Islands are on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. The Solomon Islands arc as a whole experiences a very high level of earthquake activity, and many tremors of magnitude 7 and larger have been recorded since the early decades of the twentieth century.On April 2, 2007, a massive 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck close to the New Georgia Islands of the Solomon Islands. It unleashed a regional tsunami, killing 52 people and destroying more than 300 homes, schools and a hospital at Sasamunga. Two people were killed as a result of landslides, which were triggered by the earthquake.</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.

READ MORE: Earthquakes in Canada: The impact of climate change on seismic activity

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.</s>SYDNEY: A major 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, and a tsunami warning was issued for nearby countries.

The tremor struck 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Panguna in Papua New Guinea at a depth of 153 kilometres at 3:30pm local time (0430 GMT), the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre warned hazardous waves could hit coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nauru, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and others within the next three hours.</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 7.9 magnitude earthquake has struck off the east coast of Papua New Guinea near the Solomon Islands.

The quake struck the Papua New Guinean island of Bougainville on the border with the Solomon Islands at around 4:30am local time at a depth of 131 miles.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that waves of up to a metre above tide level could strike several coasts along the islands but it said the threat has now passed.

An additional warning was issued to Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Tonga, New Caledonia and several smaller surrounding islands for smaller waves of up to 0.3 metres above tide level.

The size of the quake was also downgraded to 7.9 magnitude following initially reports of 8.0 and there were no reports of injury or damage.

The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, Chris McKee, the assistant director of the Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory, said.

"I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami," Mr McKee said. He added that the area in which the earthquake struck was sparsely populated.

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 located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire" – where large amounts of seismic activity occurs 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.

"That isn't the only fear we have," Yates told Reuters by phone from the capital of Honiara, adding that his office was trying to contact communities closest to the quake's epicentre. "We are also worried about damage from the earthquake."

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

"Because of the great depth of the earthquake it is unlikely that there will be any significant tsunami activity," McKee told Reuters.

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.</s>Port Moresby: A powerful magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit the Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands on Sunday, but a tsunami alert intially issued for the Pacific island nation and its neighbours was later cancelled.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake; some 47 km west of Arawa on the north Coast of Bougainville Island, and the depth was put at 154 km.

Earthquakes of such magnitude are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

There were no reports of damage from the epicentre of the quake yet sources said.

Notably, 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.
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits west of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, beneath Bougainville Island. No immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Tsunami alert for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands is rescinded.