Earthquake strikes off Papua New Guinea

The quake was recorded at 7.57 pm local time (1427 IST) just off the western coast of PNG's Bougainville Island.

A moderate earthquake of 5.0 magnitude struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

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The quake was recorded at 7.57 pm local time (1427 IST) just off the western coast of PNG's Bougainville Island, the US Geological Survey said.

Its depth was 83 kilometres below the seabed.

The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.

At least 654 people were killed in Indonesia this week when a 7.7-magnitude quake sent tsunamis crashing into the south coast of Java island.