A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck in Papua New Guinea's islands region.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 130 km to the east of Rabaul at a depth of 10 km around 3:40am local time, 9 March. Photo: USGS
The quake was initially reported as being a 7.1, but the US Geological Survey has since revised its magnitude downards.
The USGS says the quake struck at a depth of 15 kilometres, and was located 20 kilometres east of Taron on New Ireland, at 3:40am PNG Time (1740 UTC).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that a Pacific regional tsunami was not expected.
Telecommunication links to New Ireland's Namatanai district where the epicentre was nearest are patchy.
However local MP Walter Schnaubelt told RNZ Pacific that so far there were no reports of any serious damage or casualties.
The quake was strongly felt in the closest big town, East New Britain's capital Kokopo, some 100 kilometres to the west, according to a Namatanai native, Leonard Tonggo.
"In Kokopo there's no report of any damages as yet. But in New Ireland, because the place is a bit remote, they are not connected, there's communication problems there.
"But we are used to earthquakes, not like in the Highlands were they are experiencing lots of problems," said Mr Tonggo.
Today's quake comes as PNG's Highlands region feels significant ongoing aftershocks from a 7.5 earthquake eleven days ago.
At least one hundred people are reported to have been killed as a result of the Highlands quake and subsequent landslides.
Unlike last week's Highlands quake, which killed at least one hundred people, today's quake comes in an an area known for seismic volatility.
Two other quakes registering around 7 have been recorded there in the past 15 months.
Papua New Guinea showing border with Indonesia's Papua region Photo: 123RF