No tsunami threat after power quake hits PNG

The earthquake hit PNG around 1am NZ time.

New Zealand is not at risk of any tsunami following a power earthquake which hit Papua New Guinea earlier this morning.

A 7.7 magnitude powerful earthquake struck PNG around 1am, triggering a tsunami alert for the country and for the nearby Solomon Islands.

But the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management and GNS Science say the earthquake, which happened at 12.58am on Wednesday, New Zealand time, did not pose a tsunami threat to New Zealand.

"MCDEM has assessed the information with the assistance of science advisors.

"Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will affect New Zealand."

The US Geological Survey says the quake measured magnitude 7.5 and was located 45 kilometres northeast of Kokopoa, a remote town with a population of about 26,000. It was centred at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres, it said.

Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface, but the USGS estimated that damage and injuries would be low because of the sparse population.

-Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nz

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