Papua New Guinea rocked by 6.3 magnitude earthquake
Quake is latest tremor to hit after 145 people were killed by a deadly quake in the same region more than a month ago. There were no reports of a Tsunami threat or casualties.
AN EARTHQUAKE has struck in the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea just weeks after deadly tremors killed 145 people in the same region.
The quake measured 6.3 magnitude when it struck today, but there were no reports of a tsunami threat or casualties in the area.
The epicentre was located 112 miles southwest of Rabaul on New Britain island with a depth of 40 miles. The quake was revised down from an initial reading of 6.8 magnitude and a depth of 60km.
Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said in a bulletin: "Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected."
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.
Rabaul lies in the shadow of Mount Tavurvur, an active volcano that destroyed the town in 1994 during a severe eruption.
The latest quake comes as Papua New Guinea struggles to get aid to desperate survivors of the earthquake on February 26th, which flattened whole villages and spoiled water supplies on the country's main island.
More than 260,000 people were left needing emergency shelter and 145 people have been reported to have died.
MOST READ IN NEWS
A month on, disaster and relief officials say the scale of the emergency is testing the finances and capacity of what is of the world's poorest countries.
The impoverished country is also missing its largest revenue earner, after the quake forced a shutdown of Exxon Mobil Corp's liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which has annual sales of $3 billion at current LNG prices. The firm is still assessing quake damage at its facilities.