Papua New Guinea Hit With Another Powerful Earthquake Triggering Tsunami Warning

Another strong earthquake hit Papua New Guinea late Saturday night. The region was already reeling under an equally intense earthquake a week earlier.

A powerful earthquake has struck off the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. Though the earlier earthquake that The Inquisitr reported, had caused some damage, this new quake, though marginally stronger, did not cause damage in equal magnitude. However, just like a week earlier, the possibility of Tsunami isn’t being dismissed and a warning is already in effect.

The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed the magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck, was located 75 kilometers (47 miles) southwest of the town of Panguna on Bougainville Island. It struck at a depth of 31 kilometers (19 miles). Incidentally, the earlier earthquake too, had its epicenter at the exact same region.

Saturday’s incident is the latest in a series of large seismic events in the region over the week. They began with magnitude-7.1 and magnitude-6.5 earthquakes on April 11, just to the northeast and southeast, respectively. Since then, 45 earthquakes known as min–quakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater have occurred nearby, reported CNN.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has re–issued a warning for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Fortunately none of the remote locators place on buoys have picked up any upheaval in the deep sea level indicating that the tsunami hasn’t been triggered yet, but fishermen and other sea vessel are being cautioned about venturing into the sea.

The Papua New Guinea region has witnessed multiple earthquakes in the region. Moreover these are much more powerful than the ones that hit California. However, LA feels tremors a lot more frequently than Papua New Guinea.

The primary reason for the high intensity of earthquakes is “this is a highly active area seismically,” said Chris McKee, a geologist based in the Papua New Guinea capital city of Port Moresby. He was referring to the geological phenomenon known as ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of earthquake and volcanic activity that stretches around the Pacific Rim.

Interestingly, it was this location that might have prevented large–scale damage. In fact, the latest earthquake could be beneficial for the region, say seismologists. Their justification was summarized by Jonathan Bathgate, a seismologist at Geoscience Australia. “Certainly it [earthquake activity] has been very active, more active than usual. [The spate of earthquakes] is relieving some pressure on this fault line, but we can’t rule out another large earthquake,” he said, reported Australia News Network.

[Images via Bing]