A strong 6.9-magnitude earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate threat of a tsunami.

The quake struck at a depth of 32 kilometres (20 miles), 37 kilometres northeast of Kandrian in the New Britain region, USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which monitors violent ocean movements generated by quakes, issued a bulletin saying “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.”

Seismologists on the ground in PNG said they were still seeking information about the extent of any damage.