5.5-magnitude quake shakes Papua New Guinea

A 5.5-magnitude earthquake on Sunday struck Papua New Guinea, around 135 km southwest of Kokopo, the capital of the East New Britain province, at a depth of 56 km.

A 5.5-magnitude earthquake on Sunday struck Papua New Guinea, the US Geological Survey said.

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The quake hit 135 km southwest of Kokopo, the capital of the East New Britain province, at 2:49 am local time (2219 IST).

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 56 km.

Strong earthquakes are common in impoverished PNG, which sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

A giant tsunami in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people near Aitape, on the country's northwest coast.