Strong quake hits off Papua New Guinea

CANBERRA. July 25. KAZINFORM A 6.2-magnitude earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea's island of Bougainville Saturday morning but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualty yet, seismologists said, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

photo: QAZINFORM

The quake, which struck at 11:42 a.m. local time (01:42 GMT), was about 80 kilometers west of Arawa city at a depth of 65 kilometers, according the U.S. Geological Survey.

    "At this stage we have not received any reports of any damage," a spokesman for PNG's national earthquakes center said.

    "We have not had any report of such activity as a tsunami, but normally (with) earthquakes of about 6.2 we rarely anticipate tsunamis along our coastline," he added, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chianview.cn for full version.