Papua New Guinea (BBN)-A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the southern coast of Papua New Guinea.
A tsunami warning was issued for an area within 300 km of the epicenter, including the Australian coast, before being downplayed, US Geological Survey reported.
A large temblor registered 133 kilometers (83 miles) south-west of Kokopo, according to USGS.
The revised data showed the epicenter to be 63 kilometers under the coast of New Britain island.
The quake was followed by a 5.9-magnitude aftershock just 10 minutes later.
The series of aftershocks continued with 5.6 and 5.2 tremors.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) has issued a preliminary warning message immediately after the first tremor, saying that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300km of the earthquake epicenter.”
The warning estimated that a tsunami wave could reach the Australian city of Cairns at 5:10 UTC and Brisbane at 6:07 UTC.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the sparsely populated coastline around the epicenter of the quake.
Two lower-magnitude tremors were registered in the area last week, but the Tuesday quake was considered more alarming due to it being shallow.
PTWC has revised the initial warning, saying that tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meter above tidal level were expected only on some coasts of Papua New Guinea.