US tsunami verdict issued after earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck near Lae, the second largest city in Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

City police official Mildred Ongige told Reuters by telephone that a "very huge" earthquake was felt. "It was a few minutes ago so we have no further details of damage but we are concerned," she added.

There were not immediate reports of local damage.

A tsunami warning was not issued after the quake, which struck at a depth of 10 km, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The quake's epicentre was 26 km (~16 miles) from the city of Lae, which has a population of over 76,000 and is located in the country's Morobe province, according to USGS.

The quake was initially reported at a magnitude of 6.8 by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) before the agency revised it to 6.6.

Papua New Guinea straddles the Pacific's "Ring of Fire", a region known for frequent earthquakes.

In March last year, three people were killed and over 1,000 homes destroyed after a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit the remote East Sepik province in the north of the country.