A small tsunami was seen on the coast of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea following a strong earthquake that shook the island on Tuesday.
The 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck about 130 kilometers south of the northeastern side of the island, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue an alert for a possible tsunami that may reach up to 1 meter high within 300 kilometers of the area.
The center lifted the warning several hours later and said that the threat had "mostly passed," adding that it is up to the local authorities to monitor local threats.
Although the area has been struck by earthquakes in the last few days, the recent tremor has so far been the strongest and brought about a wave of panic among the people. The residents left the coastal areas in search of higher ground inland for fear that a tsunami would occur, the Associated Press reports.
A localized tsunami eventually hit the coast of Rabaul with waves of less than one meter high. No flooding was experienced in the town, as the waves did not go higher than the usual high tide level.
The tremor caused a power outage as power lines were knocked down in some areas. Landslides and minor structural damages, like cracks in the walls and fallen ceilings, were also observed in Rabaul. However, there were no injuries from the earthquake, according to The Guardian.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has alerted defense and emergency response teams. He reminded the people to be on their guard in the wake of the recent earthquakes.
"I call on local leaders to ensure you communicate with your people and in particular continue to education children on the warning signs," he said. "This is a serious issue and like all countries in the ring-of-fire around the Pacific we have to be prepared."
The earthquake on Tuesday had the same epicenter as the two previous earthquakes that occurred last week. Jonathan Bathgate, senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, said the possibility of a stronger earthquake should not be ruled out, Channel News Asia reports.
"We can't predict earthquakes, but this area is in a very active sequence. This could be the biggest earthquake that's been building up over the last few months, but there could be another larger earthquake," he said.
