6.4 earthquake: A magnitude-6.4 earthquake shook Papua New Guinea on Wednesday but no tsunami warning was issued.
The Australia Broadcasting Corporation said that there were no immediate reports of damage.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck around 20 miles north of Rabaul at a depth of 11.1 miles.
“Damage would be more likely in coastal areas of New Ireland,” Seismologist John Bathgate from Geoscience Australia told the ABC. “It would certainly have given the area a good shake but Rabaul is on the edge of our damage radius.”
Rabaul Hotel owner Susan McGrade said that she felt the quake for around a minute.
“And I dropped the phone, I roared outside and my swimming pool was sloshing all over the place, just like surfing and the water was sloshing off onto the pavement around it,” she was quoted as saying. “And we just all jumped around - my girls and I try and pretend it’s not that bad by jumping up and down.”
Hawaii 24/7 reported that the quake poses no tsunami threat to Hawaii.
‘'It’s not unusual for the area to experience this type of quakes, or even larger,” Bathgate told AFP.
A week ago, a 6.8-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea, with no reports of damage.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert and the Geophysical Observatory in the capital, Port Moresby, had not received any reports of damage or unusual wave activity.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea. The country lies on the “Ring of Fire” — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
