An earthquake of 6.9 on the Richter scale struck eastern Papua New Guinea today, prompting authorities to warn of the risk of a tsunami.
The American Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at "02:50" GMT, was at a depth of 85 km and hundreds of kilometers from the capital, Port Moresby.
While there were no immediate reports of human or material damage from the earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called on residents of nearby coastal areas to take precautions due to the risk of high tidal waves.
Papua New Guinea is a country located in the eastern half of the island of Papua, "the second largest island in the world" in the southwest Pacific Ocean, in the continent of Oceania near Indonesia.
Often the archipelago is prone to earthquakes because of its occurrence on the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific Ocean, an area where tectonic plates converge with each other resulting in intense seismic and volcanic activity.