Sharjah 24 – AFP: A 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook Papua New Guinea Sunday, damaging buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least five people, with several others severely injured.
Residents in northern towns near the epicentre reported intense shaking mid-morning that cracked roads and rattled the cladding off buildings.
Local member of parliament Kessy Sawang said at least two people had died in remote mountain villages, with four others airlifted to hospital in critical condition.
In nearby Wau, Koranga Alluvial Mining said three miners had been buried alive.
There are limited communications in the area, few government resources and very few paved roads, making assessment and rescue efforts difficult.
Small aviation companies and missionary groups were involved in airlifting some of the injured across the rugged jungle landscape.
In the eastern highland town of Goroka, residents captured images of window awnings falling off the cracked walls of a local university.
The quake was felt as far as the capital Port Moresby about 300 miles (480 kilometres) away.
The US Geological Survey initially issued a tsunami warning for nearby coastal areas, but subsequently said the threat had passed.
But fearful locals near the sea nevertheless fled for higher ground -- reporting that the water level had suddenly dropped.
The nation's leader, James Marape, said the quake was "massive" and told people to be cautious, but said he expected the damage to be less than that from a 2018 quake and series of aftershocks, which killed an estimated 150 people.
However, the scale of the damage and number of casualties from Sunday's quake was still unclear.
It was not yet clear if there was any damage to regional airports.
The quake struck at a depth of 61 kilometres (38 miles), about 67 kilometres from the town of Kainantu, according to the US Geological Survey.
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