6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Ireland

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck the coast of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea at 1.11pm today.

The Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory confirmed that the earthquake hit the eastern coast of Namatanai in NIP.

Assistant director for the geo-hazards division of Department of Mineral Policy and Geo-hazards Management, Chris McKee, confirmed that the earthquake occurred at about a 500km depth so that is no prospect of a tsunami.

McKee said the earthquake was very deep so it’s unlikely to have caused any damage and they haven’t had any reports of damages.

“We have been in touch with provincial disaster authorities in NIP and they‘ve not reported any damage,” Mckee said.

Mckee explained that a magnitude 6.5 earthquake can generate a tsunami. A tsunami can also be generated by smaller events as well but that depends on the mechanism of the quake.

Mckee added that the magnitude itself does not necessarily tell you whether a tsunami will be generated or not.

Author: 
Quintina Naime