[Benjamin]

A strong earthquake has struck Papua New Guinea's northern coast, causing residents who feared a tsunami to seek higher ground.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey says had a 6.8 magnitude, reportedly lasted for three minutes.

No tsunami warning has been issued and there were also no reports of serious damage or injuries.

It struck at about 08:55 local time (22:55 GMT Tuesday), with an epicentre 19km (11 miles) east of Aitape town.

The coastal town of Aitape was devastated in 1998 when a huge earthquake triggered a tsunami that left more than 2,000 people dead.

No tsunami warning was issued, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a quake this strong could sometimes generate local tsunami waves within 100km of the epicentre.

"Authorities in the region should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action," it said.

An eyewitness told ABC News that many people sought higher ground after the earthquake struck.

"They were frightened maybe the sea will come up," Max Kamave said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22178731

[arista]

So Far no dead
thats good

[Marc]

What are you? The earthquake reporter or something?

[Benjamin]

Yes.

[Lee.]

Ben, since exoeriencing a quake, do you check earthquake watch online every day?

[Benjamin]

Sometimes, but these were major headlines online when I was searching the news.

[Marc]

Quaking in his boots

[Benjamin]

They're bloody scary. I can't imagine being in such a strong force like this or the Iranian one yesterday.

[Lee.]

Yeah they are scary. The fact that there's no warning whatsoever scares me.

[Marc]

Well there is when you have the technology to read the tremors.

[Lee.]

There arent always tremors before a quake, not ones you can feel anyway.

The one I experienced last year literraly came out of nowhere.. one minute everone was relaxing or having fun by the pool, the next minute the ground the hotel, everything was shaking. Not pleasant

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Lee.

There arent always tremors before a quake, not ones you can feel anyway.

The one I experienced last year literraly came out of nowhere.. one minute everone was relaxing or having fun by the pool, the next minute the ground the hotel, everything was shaking. Not pleasant

Where were you holidaying? in Turkey?

[Lee.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Where were you holidaying? in Turkey?

Yeah Cherie

[Cherie]

Scary.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Marc

Well there is when you have the technology to read the tremors.

There were no tremors before the one here.

[billy123]

I used to have an app installed when i used firefox that would shake your browser window when there was an earthquake recorded anywhere in the world which was interesting.
I had it set to only trigger when it was above a 6.0 and it happened all the time and mostly (thankfully) in really remote places.Earthquakes always fascinate me as terrifying as they are.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by bobnot

I used to have an app installed when i used firefox that would shake your browser window when there was an earthquake recorded anywhere in the world which was interesting.
I had it set to only trigger when it was above a 6.0 and it happened all the time and mostly (thankfully) in really remote places.Earthquakes always fascinate me as terrifying as they are.

Yeah, Ive had a fascination with most natural disasters including earthquakes since I was about 11/12.

[Z]

That's worrying :/ at least people had the sense to seek higher ground in case of a tsunami, I'm glad.

[Jake.]

Watch out Karl!