by Joey Millar, express.co.uk
March 29, 2018
Papua New Guinea's New Britain island was hit by an earthquake at 10.25pm BST (7.25am local time)
Downgraded from an initial magnitude of 7.2, the 6.9 earthquake struck 96 miles from the town of Kokopowhich is home to 20,000 people.
One resident of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea described the earthquake on tracker website CSEM-EMSC.
They said: “That was a massive jolt...I could feel it must be High intensity quake and ran out of the house. Thank God we are all safe.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has stated that the devastating quake could cause a tsunami of up to 300kilometres of the epicentre.
In its latest update, the body said: “Hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts.
“Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Papa New Guinea.
“Tsunami waves are forecast to be less than 0.3 metres above the tide level for the coasts of the Salmon Islands.”
It is the third earthquake to have hit the region in 24 hours, each one increasing in strength.
Due to the sparely populated nature of the area, USGS does not anticipate much damage.
It estimated there was a 98 per cent chance between zero and one million dollar worth of damage will have been caused by the quake.
And it also estimated there was a 65 per cent chance no fatalities will have been suffered.
However it said there was a 30 per cent chance at least one person will have died and a four per cent chance at least 10 people will have been killed.
USGS said: “Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist.
“The predominant vulnerable building types are mud wall and informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) construction.”
Papua New Guinea is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most geologically active area in the world.
More than 90 per cent of earthquakes occur here, as well as 22 or the 25 biggest volcanic eruptions in history.
The volatility on the Pacific Ring of Fire over the past month or so has increased fears for the Big One: a major earthquake in a highly-populated area on the US west coast or in Japan.
And countries across the blog stretching from Chile in South America to New Zealand are preparing for more chaos and possible aftershocks and tremors after weeks of eruptions and quakes.
Since the 6.9 behemoth struck, another two quakes have been recorded at a magnitude of 5.3 and 5.1.
The two additional quakes both hit within half an hour of the first tremor.
March 29, 2018
Papua New Guinea's New Britain island was hit by an earthquake at 10.25pm BST (7.25am local time)
Downgraded from an initial magnitude of 7.2, the 6.9 earthquake struck 96 miles from the town of Kokopowhich is home to 20,000 people.
One resident of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea described the earthquake on tracker website CSEM-EMSC.
They said: “That was a massive jolt...I could feel it must be High intensity quake and ran out of the house. Thank God we are all safe.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has stated that the devastating quake could cause a tsunami of up to 300kilometres of the epicentre.
In its latest update, the body said: “Hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts.
“Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Papa New Guinea.
“Tsunami waves are forecast to be less than 0.3 metres above the tide level for the coasts of the Salmon Islands.”
It is the third earthquake to have hit the region in 24 hours, each one increasing in strength.
Due to the sparely populated nature of the area, USGS does not anticipate much damage.
It estimated there was a 98 per cent chance between zero and one million dollar worth of damage will have been caused by the quake.
And it also estimated there was a 65 per cent chance no fatalities will have been suffered.
However it said there was a 30 per cent chance at least one person will have died and a four per cent chance at least 10 people will have been killed.
USGS said: “Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist.
“The predominant vulnerable building types are mud wall and informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) construction.”
Papua New Guinea is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most geologically active area in the world.
More than 90 per cent of earthquakes occur here, as well as 22 or the 25 biggest volcanic eruptions in history.
The volatility on the Pacific Ring of Fire over the past month or so has increased fears for the Big One: a major earthquake in a highly-populated area on the US west coast or in Japan.
And countries across the blog stretching from Chile in South America to New Zealand are preparing for more chaos and possible aftershocks and tremors after weeks of eruptions and quakes.
Since the 6.9 behemoth struck, another two quakes have been recorded at a magnitude of 5.3 and 5.1.
The two additional quakes both hit within half an hour of the first tremor.
