Assessment teams have been deployed in Papua New Guinea after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake this afternoon.
An earlier tsunami warning for the country's northern coast has now been lifted.
The quake struck at a depth of 85 kilometres, not far from the town of Wau in the rugged interior of the mainland.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had earlier said hazardous waves were possible within 300 kilometres of the epicentre.
People spoken to by RNZ Pacific have said the quake was very strong, but there are no reports of major damage yet.
The quake, which was initally measured by the US Geological Survey as magnitude 7-point-3, was widely felt in PNG's capital Port Moresby.
Its epicentre is about two-hundred kilometres north of Moresby, and even closer to the country's second biggest city of Lae in Morobe Province.
The closest major town to the quake's epicentre was Popondetta, the capital of Oro province.
Magnitude 6.9 earthquake off PNG's east coast17 July 2020 Photo: US Geological Survey
