A strong earthquake struck New Guinea this afternoon, New Zealand time.
Thursday 2nd December 2010
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 40 km east-north-east of Kandrian (65 km south-south-west of Kimbe) on the Pacific island of New Britain this afternoon New Zealand time. The 4:12 p.m. quake was 35 km deep according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued one bulletin for this event reporting the earthquake as magnitude 6.9 at a depth of 43 km. The bulletin advised that a widespread tsunami threat did not exist based on historical data.
Geoscience Australia also reports the event as an onshore earthquake, but of magnitude 6.9 at a depth of 100 km. It estimates that the quake would have caused damage within 90 km of the epicentre and would have been felt up to 1100 km away.
Earlier in the day a shallower magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck undersea 185 km east-north-east of Lambasa, Vanua Levu, Fiji (195 km south-south-west of Sigave in the Wallis and Futuna Islands). The quake struck at 5:01 this morning New Zealand time and was 15 km deep.
[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia and their contributing agencies, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.]