6.8 magnitude earthquake hits Papua New Guinea

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Papua New Guinea on Friday, 106 kilometres south-southwest of the town of Kokopo, the US Geological Survey said, just a day after a 6.7 magnitude tremor in the region.

The quake hit at 1336 IST, 693 kilometres northeast of the Pacific nation’s capital Port Moresby, in the New Britain region at a depth of 57 kilometres. The USGS had initially reported the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.1 with a depth of 53 kilometres, but later revised its strength and distance from PNG. There were no tsunami warnings, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

A 6.7 magnitude quake hit the same region yesterday, 131 kilometres southwest of Kokopo, but there were no reports of serious damage.

“This is the second earthquake that has occurred in that region over the last two days,” co-director of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre Daniel Jaksa told AFP. “The previous one was about 10 kilometres to the southeast of this particular epicentre. It’s a very uninhabited region off the island of New Britain.