September 12, 2005

STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS PAPUA, NEW GUINEA


SYDNEY (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale struck off the east coast of Papua New Guinea.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the quake happened at 0735 GMT around 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of Rabaul, a town on the island of New Britain.

The government-run Geoscience Australia, which also measured the quake at 7.3, said its epicentre was located around 95 kilometres (56 miles) below the earth's surface.

It was unclear whether the quake in the remote region caused any casualties or damage, but Geoscience Australia said the quake was not expected to generate tsunami seismic waves like the ones that killed hundreds of thousands of people on December 26 last year.

"Because of the depth it's very unlikely to generate a tsunami," a spokesman for Geoscience Australia told AFP.

Papua New Guinea sits on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

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