Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 6:03 am
By BNO News
KIMBE, NEW BRITAIN (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake rattled the province of West New Britain in Papua New Guinea on Thursday afternoon, seismologists said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The 6.1-magnitude earthquake at 3.32 p.m. local time (0532 GMT) was centered about 105 kilometers (65 miles) east of Kimbe, the capital of Papua New Guinea's West New Britain province. It struck about 67.8 kilometers (42.1 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The agency estimated that approximately 61,000 people perceived moderate shaking, which could potentially result in very light to light damage. "The population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist," a report from the USGS said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the earthquake.
On December 21, 1983, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck approximately 91 kilometers (56.5 miles) east of Thursday's epicenter, killing at least 10 people.
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