Powerful earthquake rocks Papua New Guinea

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck near the island of New Britain, 295 miles (470 kilometers) northeast of the national capital Port Moresby.

AFP/Yahoo News reports the quake hit at a depth of 32 kilometres (20 miles), 37 kilometres northeast of Kandrian in the New Britain region, the USGS said. Also, The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which monitors violent ocean movements generated by quakes, sent out a bulletin saying "no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data." No casualties or damages to property were reported by New Guinea authorities so far. The Pacific Tsunami warning center has not issued a tsunami warning in Papua New Guinea.