7.9-magnitude quake strikes Papua New Guinea, tsunami warnings scaled back

Tsunami warnings were issued for several nations on Saturday after a major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the US Geological Survey said.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck 157 km (98 miles) east of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported, prompting a warning about tsunami waves across parts of the archipelago.

The earthquake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the US Geological Survey said. (Google Maps)

“Tsunami waves have been observed,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said, warning that waves reaching one to three metres above the tide level were possible along some of Papua New Guinea’s coastlines. It said any tsunami waves would hit within the next two hours.

The PTWC cancelled an earlier tsunami warning that encompassed Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Nauru, Kosrae and Vanuatu after the quake, which struck the New Ireland region of Papua New Guinea at a depth of 103.2 km.

Any tsunami waves in countries other than Papua New Guinea were forecast to be less than 0.3 metres, the PTWC said.

New Zealand also cancelled an earlier tsunami warning, while Hawaii and Australia said there was no threat to their coastlines.

Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.