A Papua New Guinea MP says he is trying to verify reports that up to 10 people died in morning's earthquake in Hela
province.
An earthquake of magnitude 7-point- 5 has struck Papua New Guinea' Southern Highlands province at 35 kilometres deep at
around 4AM local time on 26 February 2018, according to the US Geological Survey. Photo: US Geological Survey
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck at a depth of 35 kilometres in
Komo-Magarima district.
It struck at 4am local time, according to the USGS.
The mobile phone network in this region has been disrupted, frustrating attempts by people in other parts of PNG to
gauge initial reports of damage from the quake.
However, the local MP, Manasseh Makiba, said he received preliminary reports from ExxonMobil personnel, via their
satellite phones, as well as people in his district on landline phones.
"The reports are coming that the earthquake was very huge, and there was some casualties. There were landslides and
destruction of some properties and houses. And there were reports of some lives being lost... about ten."
Mr Makiba said the National Disaster Office is expected to dispatch a team to the area to assess the damage.
The quake is understood to have been felt in neighbouring provinces including Southern Highlands, Enga, Western
Highlands and Western.
The epicentre of the quake is located in a rugged region near Mt Sisa, which is close to key infrastructure for PNG's
ExxonMobil-led LNG gas project.
Earlier, a spokesperson from Exxon told RNZ Pacific that all of its employees and contractors at its Hides gas
facilities had been accounted for and are all safe.
She said that as a precaution, ExxonMobil PNG Limited had shut in its Hides Gas Conditioning Plant to assess any damages
to its facilities.
About a half an hour later an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 struck in the same area with a depth of 39 kilometres.
According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, there was no regional tsunami threat.