A powerful earthquake has rattled Papua New Guinea, generating a small tsunami near the epicentre, bringing down power lines and cracking walls, but causing no widespread damage.
A tsunami estimated at just under one metre was seen in the harbour of Rabaul, a town near the epicentre of the 7.5-magnitude quake, said Chris McKee, assistant director of the Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby.
There were no reports of flooding, as the tsunami didn't rise beyond the normal level of high tide, McKee said.
The quake struck at a depth of 42km, about 130km south of the town of Kokopo in northeastern Papua New Guinea, the US Geological Survey said after issuing varying estimates of the quake's power.
The earthquake brought down power lines in the Rabaul area, knocking out power to residents and to the local Geophysical Observatory office, McKee said.
There were a few reports of structural damage in Kokopo, including cracks in some walls, but no reports of injuries, he said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that tsunami waves of up to one metre were possible within 300km of the epicentre, but lifted the warning a few hours later.
Apart from Rabaul, there were no other reports of unusual wave activity, and any further threat was likely to be minimal, with waves of less than 30cm predicted, McKee said.
Tuesday's quake was centred in the same area as two earthquakes that rocked Papua New Guinea last week.
The nation sits on the Ring of Fire, the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common.
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