Quake of magnitude 6.6 shakes Lae city in Papua New Guinea

A witness, who declines to be named, says the earthquake has stirred superstition among locals

Map of Papua New Guinea.Google Maps

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck near Papua New Guinea's second largest city Lae on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, terrifying mourners in a stadium but with no damage immediately reported.

The epicentre was 26 km (16 miles) from Lae, which has a population of over 76,000, according to the USGS. It was also felt in the capital Port Moresby, social media showed.

A Papua New Guinea government official, Malum Nalu, said the "very violent" earthquake struck around 9 p.m. when he was in Lae's stadium with hundreds of others for a ceremony in honour of the deceased governor of the local Morobe province.

Soldiers were lifting Luther Wenge's casket to go to a funeral home when it struck, he said.

"There was a big rumbling noise like a plane flying overhead, then the building was shaking violently for around three minutes," Nalu told Reuters by telephone.

"There were hundreds of people inside, it was packed to capacity. People were rushing to get out of the exits and the deputy prime minister was calling for people to keep calm."

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

A Lae city police official, Mildred Ongige, also described the earthquake as "very huge". But both officials said they did not yet have details of any damage.

Another witness, who declined to be named, said the earthquake had stirred superstition among locals.

Several government ministers were in Lae ahead of a state funeral scheduled for Wenge on Wednesday.

A tsunami warning was not issued after the quake, which struck at a depth of 99.4 km, the USGS said in updated advice.

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