One dead in ‘massive’ Papua New Guinea quake

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea - A 7.6 magnitude earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea Sunday, damaging buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least one person, with several more severely injured.

Residents in northern towns near the epicenter reported intense shaking mid-morning -- cracking roads and shearing cladding off buildings.

Member of parliament Kessy Sawang reported that in the remote mountain village of Matoko one person was buried in a mud fall and had died, with several others seriously injured and airlifted to hospital.

She said there had been "major damages" and fears of more "injuries and deaths" in villages along the Finisterre range and in some coastal areas.

There were "people and houses buried and destroyed," she said.

In the eastern highland town of Goroka, images showed window awnings falling off the crack-riven walls of the local university.

It was "very strong," said Hivi Apokore, a worker at the Jais Aben Resort near Madang told AFP. "Everything was like sitting on a sea -- just floating."

The quake was felt as far away as the capital Port Moresby, at a distance of about 300 miles (480 kilometers).

The US Geological Survey initially issued a tsunami warning for nearby coastal areas, but subsequently said the threat "has now passed".

Regardless, fearful locals in coastal areas fled for higher ground -- reporting that the sea level had suddenly dropped.

The nation's leader James Marape urged people to remain cautious and head to higher ground.

He said he was extremely concerned by the "massive" earthquake: "My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected."

Marape added the scale of the damage or any injuries was still unclear -- with several regions affected.

"National and provincial disaster agencies, as well as leaders, have been asked to assess the damage and injuries to people and attend to these as soon as possible."

The quake struck at a depth of 61 kilometers (38 miles), about 67 kilometers from the town of Kainantu, according to the US Geological Survey.

Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", causing it to experience frequent earthquakes.

In neighboring Indonesia, in 2004 a 9.1-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including about 170,000 in Indonesia.

Earlier Sunday, the US Geological Survey also reported two strong earthquakes in the remote Mentawai Islands off the western coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of 20 kilometers at around 6.10 am local time (2310 GMT), closely followed by a 5.7-magnitude quake at a shallower depth of 10 kilometers minutes later.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but the tremor sent residents on the Mentawai Islands fleeing to evacuation centers set up last week following another earthquake.

The quake was also felt in the city of Padang, the capital of Western Sumatra province, where residents left their homes after the tremor shook buildings, according to an AFP journalist. — Agence France-Presse