Magnitude-6.6 quake strikes off Papua New Guinea, no damage

USPA News - A strong earthquake struck the Solomon Sea off mainland Papua New Guinea on Friday afternoon, seismologists and residents said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. No tsunami alerts were issued.

The 6.6-magnitude earthquake at 1:33 p.m. local time (0333 GMT) was centered in the Solomon Sea about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north-northeast of Finschhafen, a town located on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province. It struck about 43.2 kilometers (26.8 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Geoscience Australia said the earthquake may have been felt up to 836 kilometers (519 miles) from the epicenter, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. USGS computer models estimated that some 18,000 people near the epicenter could have experienced strong shaking, while as many as 1.2 million people may have felt light to moderate shaking. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which initially measured the earthquake at 6.9, said there was no threat of a tsunami. Earthquakes in the mountainous nation of Papua New Guinea, which is on the so-called `Pacific Ring of Fire`, do rarely cause damage or casualties as most structures in the region are light and flexible. This allows them to bend, rather than snap, when a major earthquake occurs. In December 2011, a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Wau in Morobe province. The earthquake was felt as far away as the capital Port Moresby, about 221 kilometers (137 miles) south-southeast of the epicenter, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. Most notably, in July 1998, a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck just off the north coast of the country`s island of New Guinea, causing a landslide which resulted in a local tsunami. The disaster left at least 2,183 people killed and thousands more injured.