A strong earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit Papua New Guinea Sunday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, Geoscience Australia said.
The earthquake struck at 0312 GMT about 39 kilometres (24 miles) deep in PNG's island of New Britain, 605 kilometres northeast of the capital Port Moresby, a spokeswoman told AFP.
There was no risk of the quake sparking a tsunami "and we've had no reports of any damage at all" in the sparsely-populated area, she said.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake is classified as "strong". A temblor of the same size killed 3,300 people and left 200,000 homeless in neighbouring Indonesia on Saturday.
