Strong quake in PNG kills at least 7

SYDNEY－At least seven people were killed after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Papua New Guinea on Sunday morning, according to the Royal PNG Constabulary.

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Commissioner of Police David Manning said that a second 5.0-magnitude earthquake was also recorded on Sunday, occurring 70 km north of the original tremor at a depth of 101 km underground.

According to the statement, the most significant damage has been reported in the districts of Morobe, Eastern Highlands and Madang provinces, with several landslides triggered. Among the fatalities were one in the Rai Coast district of Madang Province, and three in the town of Wau in Morobe Province. All were buried in landslides.

Some people in Morobe were injured due to falling structures or debris, and there was damage reported to health centers, homes, rural roads and highways, according to the provincial disaster management center.

Parts of the Highlands Highway, which connects the second largest city of Lae to the Highlands provinces, were damaged. Areas along Markham and Ramu in Eastern Highlands were especially affected.

Residents shared images and videos on social media of cracked roads, damaged buildings and cars, and items falling off supermarket shelves. Local newspaper Post-Courier reported that many shops in Lae remained closed due to their stock being damaged.

During a news conference on Sunday afternoon, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said national and provincial disaster agencies had begun to assess the damage done to buildings and infrastructure such as roads and power supplies.

Marape said the estimated cost of the damage would not be known until at least Tuesday, but assured the public that no expense would be spared to "restore our services and our people's livelihoods".

The United States' tsunami warning system issued an alert after the quake, but later said the danger had passed. There was no immediate threat to Australia, its Bureau of Meteorology said.

PNG is one of the world's most geologically and seismically active areas and is usually hit with more than 100 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater each year.

In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 quake rocked PNG's mountainous highlands, killing more than 100 people and damaging thousands of homes.

Xinhua - Agencies