Shallow 6.1-magnitude quake strikes Papua New Guinea

SYDNEY — A shallow 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville Island on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.

The quake was just one kilometer deep (around half a mile) and centered 96 kilometers southwest of the town of Panguna.

Quakes of such magnitude are common in PNG, which sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

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