Photo: 123RF
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck Papua New Guinea today, reportedly injuring people, damaging property and spreading widespread panic among residents.
The quake, 80 km deep, hit the eastern Papua New Guinea region at about 9:45am local time (11.45am NZ time), but the shaking was felt as far as the capital of Port Moresby, about 500km away.
The US tsunami warning system issued a tsunami warning after the quake but it later said the threat had passed. There was no immediate tsunami threat to Australia, its Bureau of Meteorology said.
Papua New Guinea residents took to the social media sharing images and videos of cracked roads, damaged buildings and cars, and items falling off supermarket shelves.
The extent of damage was not immediately clear as the location was remote. But local media reports said at least one person had died and there were unconfirmed reports of buried houses and widespread damage.
Reuters could not independently verify these reports.
The government was expected to give more details later in the day.
RNZ Pacific's PNG correspondent Scott Waide who is in Lae, about 70km from the epicentre, said power was down in the Highlands and phone contact was limited.
Waide said he had heard of two soldiers injured at a military barracks in Lae.
There had been some damage to buildings near the Eastern Highlands and to shops in Madang, Waide said.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific Ocean's ring of fire - a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
A magnitude 7.5 quake rocked PNG's remote mountainous highlands in 2018, killing more 100 people and damaging thousands of homes.
- Reuters/ RNZ