A powerful earthquake measuring magnitude 7.5 has struck Papua New Guinea, triggering a tsunami alert for the country and the nearby Solomon Islands. The quake was centered 28 miles northeast of Kokopo and hit at a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves as high as three feet above the tide level were possible for some of Papua New Guinea’s shores. Waves of about a foot or less above the tide level were expected for the coasts of Guam, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, the Philippines, Pohnpei, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, it said.
The USGS estimated damage and injuries would be low.
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Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia. It sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic activity occur.
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in the nation’s central region early last year killed at least 125 people and forced another 35,000 from their homes. That quake hit remote and undeveloped areas, and assessments of the scale of the damage and injuries were slow to filter out.
