The Papua New Guinea government has yet to receive reports of any damage from a massive undersea earthquake on Friday but cannot yet rule out loss of life in remote outlying villages, an official said on Saturday.
The magnitude-7,3 earthquake was centred 96km under the seabed in the island province of New Ireland, 870km north-east of the South Pacific island nation’s capital, Port Moresby, the United States Geological Survey said.
The National Disaster Management Office in Port Moresby has been in contact with the provincial governments of New Ireland and the neighbouring island of Bougainville, but both are still awaiting reports from outlying villages, the office’s communications officer, George Enai, said.
Final confirmation of the earthquake’s impact could take days, he said.
”Provincial authorities say the earthquake was quite mild but some areas received 50cm to 60cm waves. There was no serious damage done,” Enai said.
”They’ve received no reports of damage or loss of life, but they’re still waiting for reports to come in,” he added.
Telecommunication problems have prevented contact with outlying police and fire authorities, Enai said.
Authorities fear small villages on remote islands closest to the quake’s epicentre may have sustained damage because they are built largely with flimsy materials gathered from the jungle.
Shinjiro Tari of Japan’s Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami because the quake’s epicentre was very deep.
Japan runs a tsunami warning system for the Pacific Ocean.
In 1998, a tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake killed at least 2 000 people when it struck the north coast of Papua New Guinea’s main island, wiping out dozens of coastal villages.
Papua New Guinea, an impoverished nation of five million people, lies immediately north of Australia. — Sapa-AP