TOKYO, Oct. 17 (AP) - (Kyodo)— A strong undersea earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 hit near Papua New Guinea on Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No Pacific-wide tsunami alert was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.
The agency said on its website that the quake struck at 11:25 a.m. local time in the north of New Britain, an island located some 575 kilometers northeast of the country's capital Port Moresby.
The quake had a depth of 58.4 km.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, in a bulletin, put the quake's magnitude at 6.8 but said "no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data."
It noted, however, that quakes of this size can sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a 100 km radius of the quake's epicenter.
