Register now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister
Sept 11 (Reuters) – A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Papua New Guinea on Sunday, killing at least four people, injuring others and damaging property and essential infrastructure.
The quake struck about 67 km east of Kainantu and 80 km northwest of Lae in PNG’s eastern region at about 9:45 a.m. local time (23:45 GMT Saturday), but it was felt about 500 km (310 miles) away. capital of Port Moresby.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as the quake’s location was remote. Earthquakes are common in PNG, which lies on the Pacific Ocean’s ‘Ring of Fire’, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
Register now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister
While the government did not give a death toll, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Asia and the Pacific said at least 4 deaths and four injuries had been reported.
One person was killed in a landslide on the coast of Rai, Madang, and three others were buried in Wau, Morobe, OCHA’s disaster management team in PNG said in a report posted on Twitter.
The regional power grid, internet cables and regional highway were damaged, but the airport is operational, he said. Some of the injured were airlifted to receive immediate treatment.
Residents of Papua New Guinea shared images and videos on social media of cracked roads, damaged buildings and cars, and items falling from supermarket shelves.
The UN report said people had been injured by falling structures or debris, and there was damage to some health facilities, houses, rural roads and highways.
Power infrastructure was damaged in the affected areas, causing a blackout in the eastern highlands.
State-backed communications provider PNG DataCo also reported impact to its undersea cable network, causing widespread outages.
The US Tsunami Warning System issued an alert after the quake, but later said the danger had passed. There was no immediate threat to Australia, its Bureau of Meteorology said.
In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake shook PNG’s remote highlands, killing more than 100 people and damaging thousands of homes.
Register now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister
Reporting by Praveen Menon in Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alexander Smith
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.