Huge quake hits Papua New Guinea, extent of damage unclear

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey has detected a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in northeastern Papua New Guinea. A geologist in Kainantu, the closest big town to the epicenter, reported shaking for more than a minute as dishes crashed down from shelves. The quake hit at 9:46 a.m. local time at a depth of 56 miles in a sparsely populated area about 40 miles east of Kainantu. NOAA has since advised there is no tsunami threat. Papua New Guinea, the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic activity occurs.