Thursday, August 5, 2010

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale has been reported as having struck the Pacific island of New Britain, the second island in the Papua and New Guinea group. The quake, which struck at 22:01 UTC yesterday evening, hit at a depth of approximately 54 kilometers (34 mi) according to the United States Geological Survey.

According to a member of staff at the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory, minor effects of the quake were felt there, more than 563 kilometers (350 mi) South West of the epicenter. First reports from the area indicate that the Western parts of New Britain have no power or telecommunications.

A report posted in the local language, Tok Pisin by Radio Australia’s language service, gives the general location of the quake as 110 kilometers (68 mi) Southeast of Madang, and there are no initial reports of any tsunami warnings, and no reports of damage or casualties at press time.