Papua New Guinea earthquake – Tsunami warning as massive 7.5 magnitude tremor hits 20 miles off Kokopo

A MASSIVE 7.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The quake struck the Kokopo region and a Tsunami warning has been issued for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

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The quake was measured at 7.5 by the United States Geological Survey and it struck at a depth of 6 miles around 11pm local time.

The USGC said the quake struck at a relatively shallow depth which would tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface.

It was reported that the quake knocked out power and sent people running into the streets but there no signs of damage to buildings.

"It was very strong and shook the whole place up," said police Sergeant Frank Kilaur.

"At the moment we haven't had any reports of damage. We will have some more reports, probably in the morning, so we will wait. We are OK here."

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for the region.

“Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1000 km of the earthquake epicentre,” it said.

The region lies on the so-called Ring of Fire , a long chain of volcanoes and earthquakes around the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

There are 452 volcanoes based in the 25,000-mile ring that stretches from North and South America to Japan and New Zealand.

Since 1850 about 90 per cent of the most powerful eruptions happened within this boundary.

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In December 2018 at least 281 people were killed and 1,000 people injured by a Tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption in the Sunda Strait  in Indonesia.