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Its epicentre was 33 kilometers from the town of Bulolo at 2119 GMT according to the agency. It has a population of some 16,000. The nearest population centre is Lae, Morobe, 66km from the epicentre, with 76,000 residents.

The fire department in Lae said no one had yet called in to report damage or injuries so far following the quake. Social media photos out of Lae show stock strewn over the floors of supermarkets and clinics, though there appears to be little structural damage.

The Moresby-based National Disaster Management office said there had been no immediate reports of damage but news from the quake zone could take time to trickle in.

"We are awaiting assessments," a spokesman told AFP.

Christopher Lam was in Lae, about 100km north of Bulolo, said the rumble was audible.

"It was big. You can hear it. Got stuff thrown around in the house and the power is now cut off," he tweeted, alongside a video that showed his home rattling.

The PNG Power Ltd has issued a statement saying several of its power plants in the area of Ramu and Baiune had been knocked offline due to moving machinery, minor damage to power houses and damaged transformers.

The USGS automated assessment predicts a 65 per cent chance of zero fatalities, and just 4 per cent odds for there being up to one hundred. Economic losses are expected to be minimal.

But a similar 7.5 earthquake last year buried homes under landslides, killing some 125 people. It took several days for news of the tragedy to trickle out of PNG's remote countryside.

According to the Richter Scale, a 7-magnitude quake is equivalent to the detonation of 20 billion kilograms of dynamite and can cause serious damage to building foundations and underground pipes.