Earthquake with magnitude of 7.7 strikes PNG, Tsunami warning issued

A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 has struck off Papua New Guinea, official monitors say, and a tsunami warning has been issued.

The quake hit at a depth of 65 kilometres, some 54 kilometres from the nearest city of Kokopo Panguna on New Britain island and 789 kilometres from the capital Port Moresby, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Mika Tuvi, an employee at the Rabaul Hotel near Kokopo, told the ABC the ground shook strongly for about five minutes but there does not appear to be any major damage.

The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System said wave peaks of 50 centimetres were recorded in locations close to the epicentre two minutes after the quake struck.

The initial quake was also followed by a smaller 5.7 magnitude aftershock in the same area.PNG National Disaster Centre acting director Martin Mosa said there had been no reports of damage recorded from the central and northern parts of New Ireland province.

"We have already been in touch with our provincial disaster authorities there ... they are having difficulty getting through to some districts because communication is down," he told the ABC.

"At this point in time, I can maintain with confidence that we hope that nothing of greater magnitude or destruction has been recorded.

"We will be trying to contact our Raboul operations observatory [to check] if they are able to confirm with us if there was any tsunami being experienced around the area."

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said "based on preliminary earthquake parameters ... hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1,000 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre along the coasts of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands".

It said no destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami was expected but waves reaching 1 to 3 metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Papua New Guinea.

Any tsunami risk was expected to be limited to PNG and the Solomon Islands.

The waves are forecast to be less than 30 centimetres above the tide level for the coasts of Australia, Japan, Philippines, New Caledonia, Northern Marianas, Guam, Palau, Yap, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Nauru, Wake Island, Johnston Island, Howland and Baker, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, Solomon Islands, Indonesia and NW Hawaiian Islands.

"Persons located in threatened coastal areas should stay alert for information and follow instructions from national and local authorities," the centre added.

Earthquakes are common in PNG, which sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

The last big tremor off the Pacific nation's coast was a 6.8 magnitude quake that struck Bougainville island in December.

ABC/wires