Earthquake Of 7.0 Magnitude Hits Western Papua New Guinea, No Tsunami Alert

A powerful earthquake of 7,0 magnitude on the Richter's scale hit northwestern Papua New Guinea on Monday while no warnings of a Tsunami were issued.

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Source : getty

A powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude jolted Northwestern Papua New Guinea during the early hours of Monday. US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the temblor struck 97 kilometres from the coastal town of Wewak at a depth of 62 kilometres shortly after 4:00 am. Even as a strong earthquake hit the coastal region, no Tsunami order was issued, reported news agency AFP.

The USGS said that though the area is sparsely populated, the loosening of soft ground in the affected zone has the potential to cause damage to all the communities that are in that area. Such loosening of soft ground is known as liquefaction. It can cause substantial subsidence and horizontal sliding of the land while resulting in major damage, said the seismology agency.

The earthquake jolted an area about 100 kilometres east of the border with Indonesia viz. on the island of New Guinea. In late February, the remote New Britain region which is part of an archipelago in eastern Papua New Guinea was struck by another earthquake of 6.2-magnitude on the Richter's scale, reported AFP.

In another recent earthquake, a moderate-intensity earthquake was recorded with its epicentre at Suri in the Dolakha district of Nepal on Saturday morning. The earthquake of 5.2 magnitude jolted Dolakha and was recorded at 11:27 am. The tremors from this earthquake were also experienced in the neighbouring Okhaldhunga, Ramechhap, Sindhupal Chowk, and Nuwakot districts as well as the Kathmandu Valley.

There were no reports of immediate damage to any life or property.

Earlier, an earthquake measuring 4.2-magnitude on the Richter's scale was recorded at 3.19 am on Saturday with its epicentre in the Gorkha district, 130 km west of Kathmandu. In April 2015, a devastating earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes jolted Nepal which led to the death of around 9,000 people and wounding nearly 22,000 others. It also damaged over 800,000 houses and school buildings.