7.3 magnitude quake hits Eastern New Guinea

An earthquake of 7.3 magnitude occurred in Eastern New Guinea Region of Papua New Guinea on Wednesday afternoon. There is no report of casualties or tsunami threat warning so far.

According to U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake happened at 03:04:56 p.m. local time with the epicenter 89 km southwest of Lae of New Guinea and 221 km northwest of the national capital Port Moresby. The epicenter is of a depth of some 115.1 km.

Papua New Guinea sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.Earthquake activity is common in PNG but only a few are destructive.

PNG houses are mostly build out of wood and have a very high resistance against earthquakes. PNG has very few shaking deaths, even after sometimes violent earthquakes. Most of the victims in Papua New Guinea are due to tsunamis.