Tsunami warnings were issued for several nations today after a major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the US Geological Survey said.

The PTWC said hazardous tsunami waves could hit coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nauru, and the Solomon Islands, while New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence issued a warning for all of the country’s coast.

The earthquake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time (1051 GMT) at a depth of some 75 km, the USGS said.

The quake was originally recorded at 8.0 before being revised down to 7.9.

“Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking…Some casualties and damage are possible,” the USGS said on its website as it issued a yellow alert for shaking-related fatalities and losses.

Quakes are common near Papua New Guinea, which 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.

In 2013 the neighbouring Solomon Islands were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the region. That tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless. </s> An earthquake measuring 7.9 has rocked the Pacific Ocean sparking widespread warnings that a deadly tsunami could hit Papua New Guinea.

Scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement claiming giant waves of up to 3 metres are possible.

The quake struck 157km to the east of Rabaul this morning at 10.51UTC or GMT at a depth of 64 miles, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake was was initially reported as 8.0 before being downgraded to 7.9.

The USGS classifies a magnitude 7.9 earthquake as a major earthquake with the possibility of serious damage.

The New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence at first said the warning extended to parts of the New Zealand coastline and told people to stay off the beaches.

But officials then cancelled the warning after their tsunami expert determined there was no threat to New Zealand.

A tsunami threat to Hawaii is reportedly still being evaluated.

The New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence tweeted: "We are cancelling the tsunami threat for NZ issued earlier this morning after the mag 8 eq in Papua New Guinea at 11.51pm

"The tsunami expert panel has assessed the mag 8 PNG earthquake and determined there is no threat to NZ. The threat is being cancelled."

Island Papua New Guinea sits in the Pacific Ocean and has 7.3 million inhabitants.

In 1998 over 2,000 people were killed when a 7.0 earthquake sparked 50ft waves that caused widespread destruction on the island.

British tourists visit the country to witness its immense cultural and biological diversity from beaches to rainforests.

Last weekend a 7.7magnitude earthquake struck near to the neighbouring Solomon Islands just over 1,000 miles away.

It initially sparked threats of a tsunami for the next three-hours as far as Hawaii before the warning was called off. </s> SYDNEY (Reuters) - People living along Papua New Guinea’s coastline fled to higher ground on Saturday after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck east of the Pacific nation, triggering a tsunami warning for parts of its archipelago.

A couple of hours after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the threat had largely passed, although it said government agencies should continue to monitor coastal tides.

“Based on all available data ... the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed,” the PTWC said in an updated and final alert after the quake, which struck 157 km (98 miles) east of Rabaul.

The major tremor initially triggered a more widespread tsunami warning for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, but that was pulled back after the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) downgraded the magnitude slightly from 8. It also revised the depth of the tremor to 103.2 km from its original estimate of 73 kms.

Many residents in the northern parts of the autonomous region of Bougainville sought higher ground amid warnings that tsunami waves were possible.

“The town residents have vacated the whole place; those in the villages live higher up, so they’re ok, it’s just those near the coast,” local resident Christabel Biasu told Reuters by phone.

Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties after Saturday’s major tremor.

A nurse at Buka General Hospital in Bougainville said the quake was so strong it felt like the building she was sleeping in would topple. She said patients were being moved a few kilometers to higher ground.

“We have about 16 beds,” she told Reuters by phone, declining to give her name. “Most of them are already a suburb up.”

The small Pacific nation of Nauru, where one of Australia’s offshore immigration detention centers is located, had a tsunami warning in place, according to the official government Twitter account.

Related Coverage New Zealand issues tsunami warning after quake off Papua New Guinea

Residents in other parts of Papua New Guinea, including the capital of Port Moresby and Kavieng in the northern tip of New Ireland island, said they had not felt the quake, and no evacuation plans were in place.

New Zealand also canceled an earlier tsunami warning. </s> FOR LIVE UPDATES: Twitter The earthquake, which struck at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, was centered about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northwest of Panguna, a town on Bougainville Island that is located northeast of mainland Papua New Guinea and is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which put the preliminary magnitude at 8.4, said the earthquake struck at a depth of 168 kilometers (104 miles), making it a relatively deep quake. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the preliminary magnitude at 8.0. As a result, a tsunami alert has been issued for Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Vanuatu, and Chuuk. "Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.There was no immediate word about damage, casualties, or whether a tsunami had in fact been generated.There is no tsunami threat to the Philippines, Hawaii, or the coastlines of the mainland of the United States and Canada.The Solomon Islands are on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. The Solomon Islands arc as a whole experiences a very high level of earthquake activity, and many tremors of magnitude 7 and larger have been recorded since the early decades of the twentieth century.On April 2, 2007, a massive 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck close to the New Georgia Islands of the Solomon Islands. It unleashed a regional tsunami, killing 52 people and destroying more than 300 homes, schools and a hospital at Sasamunga. Two people were killed as a result of landslides, which were triggered by the earthquake. </s> A 7.9 magnitude earthquake has struck off the east coast of Papua New Guinea near the Solomon Islands.

The quake struck the Papua New Guinean island of Bougainville on the border with the Solomon Islands at around 4:30am local time at a depth of 131 miles.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that waves of up to a metre above tide level could strike several coasts along the islands but it said the threat has now passed.

An additional warning was issued to Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Tonga, New Caledonia and several smaller surrounding islands for smaller waves of up to 0.3 metres above tide level.

The size of the quake was also downgraded to 7.9 magnitude following initially reports of 8.0 and there were no reports of injury or damage.

The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, Chris McKee, the assistant director of the Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory, said.

"I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami," Mr McKee said. He added that the area in which the earthquake struck was sparsely populated.

Solomons government official George Herming said he was not aware of any major tremors being felt in his country or any tsunami.

The countries are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire" – where large amounts of seismic activity occurs due to friction between tectonic plates.

Loti Yates, the director of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office, said people had been told to move to higher ground in Choiseul and Western Province.

"That isn't the only fear we have," Yates told Reuters by phone from the capital of Honiara, adding that his office was trying to contact communities closest to the quake's epicentre. "We are also worried about damage from the earthquake."

Chris McKee, assistant director at PNG's Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby, said there were no initial reports of damage from near the epicentre of the quake, which is sparsely populated.

"Because of the great depth of the earthquake it is unlikely that there will be any significant tsunami activity," McKee told Reuters.

Australia and New Zealand both said they had assessed the threat and there was no danger to their coastlines.

Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville within Papua New Guinea(PNG) which is home to around 300,000 people. </s> On Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, at 9:45 a.m., the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported an earthquake has occurred in the Solomon Islands at 9:32 a.m.

The earthquake had a reported magnitude of 6.7.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reports there is no tsunami threat to Hawai‘i Island.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

Preliminary Report

Magnitude 6.5

Date-Time

9 Sep 2018 19:31:37 UTC

10 Sep 2018 06:31:37 near epicenter

9 Sep 2018 08:31:37 standard time in your timezone

Location 10.040S 161.485E

Depth 83 km

Distances

66.1 km (41.0 mi) NW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands

181.3 km (112.4 mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands

776.5 km (481.4 mi) ESE of Arawa, Papua New Guinea

864.4 km (535.9 mi) NW of Luganville, Vanuatu

1126.8 km (698.6 mi) NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Tsunami warnings for several Pacific islands, including those in Hawaii, were Friday after authorities determined that a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck near the Solomon Islands did not pose a broad tsunami threat.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of up to 3 (10 feet) were still possible along the coast of the Solomon Islands and smaller tsunami waves could hit Papua New Guinea.

There were reports of some power outages in the Solomon Islands, although there were no immediate reports of widespread damage or injuries from the quake.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit about 200 (120 miles) southeast of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The epicenter was relatively deep at 48 (30 miles) below the surface. Deeper quakes generally cause less damage on the ground.

The Solomon Islands are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire." </s> The 7.7 earthquake struck the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a threat of tsunami. They said in an alert: “An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 occurred in the New Britain region, Papua New Guinea at 12:58 UTC.

“Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1000KM of the earthquake epicentre.”

They later added: “A tsunami threat exists for parts of the Pacific located closer to the earthquake.

“It is still too early to determine whether there is a possible tsunami threat to Hawaii.”

The County of Hawaii Civil Defense later confirmed there was no threat. </s> Papua New Guinea earthquake: Tsunami threat passes after magnitude-7.9 tremor near Bougainville

Updated

A magnitude-7.9 earthquake has struck off the coast of Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, causing damage and blackouts but no tsunami.

The quake struck at 3:30pm (AEDT) at a depth of 136 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey said. It was initially reported to be of magnitude 8.0.

No casualties were reported, but there was damage in parts of central Bougainville and the major town of Arawa, Aloysius Laukai, manager of New Dawn FM Bougainville radio station, said in an email.

The provincial capital of Buka was blacked out and residents of the southern town of Buin were moved to higher ground as a precaution against a potential tsunami, Mr Laukai said, but all tsunami warnings were later lifted.

An initial tsunami alert for several Pacific islands was wound back to cover just PNG and the neighbouring Solomon Islands, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre later said the tsunami threat had passed safely for those countries.

The Bureau of Meteorology also confirmed that there was no tsunami threat to Australia.

The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, said Chris McKee, assistant director at PNG's Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby.

"I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami," Mr McKee said.

Solomon Islands government official George Herming said he was not aware of any major tremors being felt in his country or any tsunami.

Earthquakes are common in PNG, which sits on the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire', a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville within PNG which is home to around 300,000 people.

Reuters/AP

Topics: earthquake, disasters-and-accidents, papua-new-guinea, pacific

First posted
Tsunami warnings are issued for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake east of Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later reports the threat has largely passed.