Friday, April 4, 2025

Huge 6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of New Britain sparking tsunami alert on Papua New Guinea


Huge 6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of New Britain sparking tsunami alert on Papua New Guinea



A tsunami warning was issued for Papua New Guinea following a strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

The quake was shallow, striking the Pacific island nation at a depth of six miles on Saturday morning local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

It struck at 6.04 am local time (8.04pm GMT) and was centred offshore, 120 miles east of the town of Kimbe on the island of New Britain.

The USGS issued a tsunami warning for waves of one to three metres along some parts of the Papua New Guinea coastline after the quake.

A caution about smaller waves of 0.3m was issued for the nearby Solomon Islands.

The tsunami warnings were however later called off.

There were no immediate reports of damage. Just over 500,000 people live on the island of New Britain.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat to the country, which is Papua New Guinea's closest neighbour. No warning was issued for New Zealand.

Two smaller quakes, with preliminary magnitudes of 5.1 and 5.3, afterwards struck near the same patch of sea, according to the USGS.

The latest quake comes just days after a deadly 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar, with tremors felt in Bangkok, Thailand.

More than 3,000 people are confirmed dead in Myanmar following last week's devastating earthquake as hopes fade of finding any more survivors. 


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