Tsunami threat as 7.4 magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea
Hirshorn said the best estimate based on initial readings was a wave of about "a metre or so"
SYDNEY (AFP) - A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Tuesday with hazardous tsunami waves possible along the local coast, seismologists said.
The quake struck 133 kilometres (83 miles) south-southwest of the town of Kokopo in the New Britain region at a depth of 63 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said, and was followed by a 5.9 magnitude aftershock.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre".
"Certainly there s a potential for a local tsunami in the area," Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate told AFP, but it would not impact on neighbouring Australia or New Zealand.
Last week, a 6.8 earthquake hit off Kokopo, with a population of 20,000, after a 6.7 tremor struck off the same area on Thursday. There was no reported damage.
Bathgate said the region had been very active over the past few months, noting that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred on March 30, generating a local tsunami.
Again, there was no major damage reported after that quake, which took place in a mostly uninhabited region off the island of New Britain.
"We don t anticipate a particularly disastrous impact," geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Barry Hirshorn told Sky News of Tuesday s quake.
Hirshorn said the best estimate based on initial readings was a wave of about "a metre or so".
"We can t predict earthquakes but this area is in a very active sequence. This could be the biggest earthquake that s been building up over the last few months, but there could be another larger earthquake," Bathgate added.
"We now could endure a series of aftershocks... but it doesn t rule out the potential for a larger earthquake."
New Britain, the largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, is east of mainland New Guinea and has a population of around 500,000 people.
The island lies on the 4,000-kilometre-long Pacific Australia plate, which forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
