7.2 magnitude earthquake shooks Papua New Guinea, 4 dead, hundreds of houses destroyed

At least four people have been killed and hundreds of houses destroyed in a remote area of northern Papua New Guinea, an official said on Tuesday, a day after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the area. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) the earthquake struck at a depth of 80km (49.71 miles) early on Monday.

According to Reuters, Felix Taranu, a seismologist with the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory, added four people are confirmed dead and 300 houses destroyed along the Sepik River region, and there are unconfirmed reports of further deaths and several hundred more houses destroyed.

Teams from Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Centre are at the quake’s epicentre near Chambri Lakes, a remote and swampy part of East Sepik province.

Papua New Guinea straddles the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a region known for frequent earthquakes. A 7.6 magnitude quake last September killed seven and triggered landslides across three provinces.