7.0-magnitude quake hits off Papua New Guinea

Sydney: A 7.0-magnitude quake struck off the northeast of Papua New Guinea today, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning issued.

The quake hit at 5:13 pm, local time, 141 kilometres north of the country's second largest city of Lae and 443 kilometres from the capital Port Moresby at a depth of 201 kilometres, it said.

"A destructive tsunami was not generated based on earthquake and historical tsunami data," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement.

Quakes of such magnitude are common in impoverished Papua New Guinea, which sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Last month, the country was hit by a 6.7-magnitude earthquake but while the tremor was widely felt it was too deep to cause much damage.

Earlier in March, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the New Britain region of the country, with no damage or injuries reported.

A giant tsunami in 1998, caused by an undersea earthquake, killed more than 2,000 people near Aitape, on the country's northwest coast.