Papua New Guinea assesses quake damage

A tsunami warning has been lifted for Papua New Guinea after an earthquake struck near the island of New Britain, and the damage is now being examined.

A tsunami warning has been lifted and there are no reports of casualties after a huge quake hit PNG. (AAP)

Papua New Guinea authorities are assessing the extent of damage from a powerful earthquake that rattled coastal towns the previous evening.

The magnitude 7.5 quake struck around 11pm on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was offshore about 45 kilometres northeast of Kokopo, which has about 26,000 people.

Chris McKee, the acting director of geohazards management, said there was some damage in Kokopo as items were shaken from shelves and the power had been cut.

He said a small tsunami was generated, but the late-night darkness made an assessment difficult.

Garfield Tarabu, a spokesman at the National Disaster Centre, said a disaster coordinator was on the ground assessing the situation but they hadn't yet received an update on the extent of the damage.