A shallow, violent offshore quake with 7.5 magnitudes hit Papua New Guinea’s remote New Britain island initially triggered a tsunami warning late yesterday. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre warned that unusually large waves could reach Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

However, it later said the tsunami threat had passed. The United States Geological Survey said the quake hit around 50 kilometres off the island’s north coast at a depth of around 10 km just before 11 p.m. yesterday (1300 UTC). Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which is situated on the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a hotspot of seismic activity.