Strong undersea earthquake occurs off coast of Papua New Guinea
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-12 08:59

An undersea earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) early Monday.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio quoted the Hong Kong observatory as saying the epicenter of the quake was in waters about 270 kilometers south of Rabaul on the island of New Britain.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there is no risk of a Pacific-wide tsunami, but warns the undersea quake, which occurred at about 0:20 Monday local time (14:20 Sunday GMT), could generate localized destructive tsunami.

Authorities in the region should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action, the warning center said.

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale struck off the northern coast of PNG on Thursday but there were no reports of casualties or damage.