Sydney: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey, but no Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued.
The tremor hit at a depth of five kilometres near the sparsely-populated East New Britain region, some 210 kilometres southeast of the town of Kokopo, the USGS said.
6.4 Magnitude Earthquake on Richter scale recorded in South of Fiji at 08:20 AM, 26-09-2017 "local time. pic.twitter.com/qpVXBVypC5
— UAE WEATHER (@NCMS_media) September 26, 2017
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a tsunami warning.
.@phivolcs_dost: No tsunami threat following the 6.4-magnitude quake in the south of the Fiji Islands pic.twitter.com/oh2VYjv9Sd
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) September 26, 2017
Earthquakes are common near Papua New Guinea, which lies on the 4,000-kilometre-long Pacific-Australia plate.
It forms part of the “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
