. 24/7 Space News .
SHAKE AND BLOW
More than 30 believed dead in PNG quake: report
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Feb 27, 2018

Shallow 6.1-magnitude quake hits off eastern Indonesia
Jakarta (AFP) Feb 26, 2018 - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia late Monday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The quake was measured at a depth of 11.9 kilometres (seven miles) with its epicentre in the Seram Sea around 194 kilometres northwest of Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, according to USGS.

"The earthquake does not have tsunami potential. I am still gathering more information regarding damages and casualties," Mochammad Riyadi of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) told AFP.

Maluku is a large archipelagic province. The nearest major island is Buru, some 50 kilometers south of the epicentre.

"There's no damage at our place and I don't think there's any damage out there because of the quake," Hentihu, a resident of Namlea, a small town on Buru island, told AFP.

Residents of Ambon, a city with a population of 330,000, also told AFP they were little affected by the tremor.

Earlier Monday a major 7.5-magnitude quake rocked neighboring Papua New Guinea.

Both Indonesia and PNG sit on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot.

At least three people were killed and hundreds of buildings were damaged following a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on Indonesia's Java island in December.

An earthquake struck Indonesia's western province of Aceh in December 2016, killing more than 100 people, injuring many more and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Aceh was one of the areas worst hit by the devastating 2004 tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

The wall of waves killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

More than 30 people are believed to have died after a powerful earthquake struck Papua New Guinea's mountainous interior, a report said Tuesday as details of "extensive" damage began to emerge.

The 7.5-magnitude tremor struck 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Porgera in the Pacific nation's Enga province early Monday, with two strong aftershocks rattling the rugged region.

Phone lines were largely cut, but the PNG Post Courier newspaper cited Hela provincial administrator William Bando as saying there were casualties.

It reported that at least 13 died in the Southern Highlands capital Mendi while 18 others were believed to have been killed in nearby Kutubu and Bosave.

Some 300 people were injured, it added, and properties damaged, with reports of landslides and sinkholes.

The Papua New Guinea Today website, quoting Catholic priest Pius Hal, said at least 10 died, including four children, in quake-triggered landslides.

AFP was unable to confirm the death toll.

A government assessment team was due to fly into the area Tuesday to get a better idea of the impact, with the military mobilised to help restore services and infrastructure, the government's Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari said in a statement.

"Information will be provided as this is made available from assessment teams in the area," he added.

- 'Houses ripped apart' -

Hela governor Philip Undialu, who was in the capital Port Moresby, told The National newspaper there was widespread damage.

"The scale of damage, from information we are getting from the ground, is quite extensive," he said, adding that there were around 19 landslides between Mendi and the town of Mount Hagen.

"Our police station, courthouse, hospital ... even private houses have been ripped apart or sunk into the ground.

"It's going to be a massive recovery exercise."

The tremor hit at a depth of 35 kilometres around 3:45 am (1745 GMT Sunday), US seismologists said, with aftershocks of 6.0 and 6.3 magnitude recorded.

Agnes Kep told the Post Courier she was asleep in Mendi when the quake struck.

"We could feel the house and the earth shaking, we wanted to run for the door and out of the house, but it was too late," she said, fearing that if they went outside "the ground might open up and swallow us".

The thatched roof on the house she was in collapsed "but we didn't care, we just clung to each other and waited for the shaking to stop".

"When we came out we barely recognised everything around us, nothing was familiar to us. The house or tree that was there wasn't there anymore," she added.

The region is home to oil and gas production. ExxonMobil PNG said buildings at its Hides Gas Conditioning Plant were damaged but all its staff were "safe and accounted for", with non-essential employees to be evacuated.

Australian resources company Oil Search on Monday said its operations in the area were being shut down as a precaution and for damage assessment, and there were no injuries reported among its staff so far.

Earthquakes are common in PNG, which sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a hotspot for seismic activity.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SHAKE AND BLOW
PNG troops respond to major 7.5 quake as aftershocks feared
Sydney (AFP) Feb 26, 2018
Papua New Guinea sent troops and rescue workers after a powerful earthquake struck the Pacific nation's mountainous interior Monday and damaged a gas plant and other buildings. Authorities warned of aftershocks and landslides. There was no official information on fatalities or injuries in the rugged region but one unconfirmed report of deaths. Assessment teams were heading to affected areas near the 7.5-magnitude quake's epicentre, which the US Geological Survey said was some 90 kilometres (55 m ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SHAKE AND BLOW
Ensuring fresh air for all

Vice President Pence Hosts National Space Council at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Trump's Privatized ISS 'Not Impossible,' but Would Require 'Renegotiation'

Japanese, US astronauts end spacewalk to fix robotic arm

SHAKE AND BLOW
SLS Intertank loaded for shipment, structural testing

Space-X lobs Spanish military satellite into orbit

RS-25 Engine Throttles Up for Deep Space Exploration

Russia jails four for embezzling millions from cosmodrome project

SHAKE AND BLOW
Seven ways Mars InSight is different

Nearly a Decade After Mars Phoenix Landed, Another Look

Opportunity Continues to Benefit from Dust Cleaning of the Solar Panels

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ready to start sniffing the methane

SHAKE AND BLOW
Long March rockets on ambitious mission in 2018

Chinese taikonauts maintain indomitable spirit in space exploration: senior officer

China launches first shared education satellite

China's first X-ray space telescope put into service after in-orbit tests

SHAKE AND BLOW
Goonhilly goes deep space

Iridium Certus broadband readies for DOD wsers with COMSAT

Airbus and human spaceflight: from Spacelab to Orion

Iridium Announces First Land-Mobile Service Providers for Iridium Certus

SHAKE AND BLOW
Silk fibers could be high-tech 'natural metamaterials'

Squid skin could be the solution to camouflage material

Atomic structure of ultrasound material not what anyone expected

Sixty years of technology in space - what's changed?

SHAKE AND BLOW
Study: Mushrooms became hallucinogenic to keep away insects

Asteroid 'time capsules' may help explain how life started on Earth

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite arrives at KSC for launch

Humans will actually react pretty well to news of alien life

SHAKE AND BLOW
New Horizons captures record-breaking images in the Kuiper Belt

Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces

JUICE ground control gets green light to start development

New Year 2019 offers new horizons at MU69 flyby









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.