6.2 magnitude earthquake strikes region of Papua New Guinea

March 15, 2012 – SYDNEY — A 6.4-magnitude earthquake (6.2 USGS) struck Papua New Guinea Thursday, the US Geological Survey reported, but a tsunami warning was not issued and seismologists said “no major human impact is expected.” The quake hit the New Britain region at 7:13 am (2113 GMT Wednesday) at a depth of 48 kilometers (30 miles), 204 kilometers southwest of the main city in the area Rabaul and 598 kilometers from national capital Port Moresby. Geoscience Australia, which put the depth at 103 kilometers, said the quake may have been felt as far away as Port Moresby but “no major human impact is expected. It seems to be in a relatively isolated area with small villages to the south,” seismologist Emma Mathews told AFP. “It definitely would have been felt but earthquakes regularly hit these areas and people living there are used to these types of events.” Quakes of such magnitude are common in the New Britain region of impoverished PNG, which sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. A giant tsunami in 1998, caused by an undersea earthquake or a landslide, killed more than 2,000 people near Aitape, on the country’s northwest coast. –AFP