A 6.4-magnitude quake struck earlier today off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the United States Geological Survey said, but no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was expected.
The quake, which was initially reported at 6.9 magnitude before being revised lower, hit at a depth of 65 kilometres (40 miles) in the New Britain region.
“It would have been very widely felt,” said seismologist Emma Mathews from Geoscience Australia, which put the quake´s reading at 6.6 magnitude and a depth of 69 kilometres.
Mathews said while the threshold for a local tsunami was any quake within a depth of 100 kilometres, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that based on all the available data there was no threat of a destructive wave.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
