A huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake severely hit Hela and Southern Highlands last night.

Although communication networks into the two provinces have been cut off, reports through satellite communication by Hela Provincial Administrator William Bando reveal that about 10 people have been killed while thousands of properties have been destroyed.

Mr Bando said it is a very severe disaster as many lives have reportedly been lost.

It is believed that the earthquake started around Kiunga and affected lives and properties in Hela and Southern Highlands while other provinces also felt the effect of the quake.

Mr Bando said the Komo Airport is believed to be damaged as half of the airfield has been destroyed.

The PA is now meeting with the department of inter-government relations in relation to the disaster.

According to new information received at (11:30am) the quakes have resulted in homes and properties being buried as the ground opened up and sank. Reports are yet to be confirmed but the situation looks severe.

As of midday today, 55 people have been confirmed dead in parts of Hela and Southern Highlands provinces.

This is according to the Catholic Bishops' Conference based on reports received from the Mendi Diocese in SHP.

General Secretary for Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Father Victor Roche, said coordination amongst authorities, churches and parties on ground is key during this trying time.

Initial reports provided by the Mendi Diocese following the earthquake confirm 20 deaths in Hela Province and 35 in parts of Mendi.

These figures account for just fractions of both provinces while attempts to update these statistics are ongoing.

Father Victor said coordination from the government right down to people on site at the impacted areas is crucial to enable swift coordination of relief efforts.

"Schools, houses, clinics, roads and bridges have been affected and people are finding it difficult to move around and relief efforts are also hampered by this, so it is good that we coordinate more," Fr Roche stated.

The death toll in Papua New Guinea following last week's magnitude 7.5 earthquake has risen to 75.

The Highlands region was badly damaged in that tremor, and continues to be rattled by aftershocks as high as magnitude 6.

Much of remote Hela and Southern Highlands provinces were cut off by massive landslides, which has hampered the delivery of much-needed aid.

PNG journalist, Scott Waide, has just visited the region closest to the epicentre, including a village where 11 people died when the mountainside came crashing through.

He said he heard of a story about a boy whose whole family was killed in the quake.

"There's a chap who is in grade 5. He goes to school in Margarima - Margarima is very far away from his village. He came back to ask his parents for school fees [but] on his way back his whole family was wiped out - his siblings, his mother, his father and an uncle have all died. So he's the only one in the family left."

More than 100 people have lost their lives and many others remain unaccounted for 10 days after the 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the resource rich provinces of Southern Highlands, Hela, Enga and Western Province.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said this yesterday after he visited the remote disaster devastated communities and people on Wednesday.

"Authorities have estimated that over 100 have lost lives and or are missing, families who are stranded in remote communities because our accesses to them especially the road links have been closed off by landslips," he said.

"As we are clearing up the existing landslips, new ones are coming up because the aftershocks are causing new landslips so it is a huge challenge which will require a lot of effort and time so that we are able to take the relief supplies to these communities." He said the work of rebuilding the affected communities is going to be difficult will take some time.

"Our government's efforts are being supported by many countries like China, the Chinese government is one of the large contributors to that, the Australian government, New Zealand government, organisations like Oil Search, PNG LNG, many Chinese businesses right throughout the country and off course many of our development partners like the World Bank and ADB (Asian Development Bank) who have supported the relief effort," he said. Mr O'Neill said this yesterday when receiving a cheque of K1.006 million from the China Enterprise Association, comprising China's state-owned companies currently operating in Papua New Guinea, towards the disaster relief efforts.

"China and PNG are very historic friends, there are many generations of Chinese who have lived and work and families have lived in Papua New Guinea and will continue to be part of our country's history for many years to come so all these support and contributions is very much appreciated by our families who are suffering the loss," he said.

"We are trying to help rebuild their lives and the funds that you contributed will immediately go to providing food, water, medicine and shelter to many of these communities who are left homeless and without food and water.

"K1 million is a lot of money in these difficult economic times and to raise that kind of money in a matter of days is something we truly appreciate."

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Papua New Guinea's mountainous Southern Highlands on Wednesday killing at least 18 people, an official said, a week after a larger quake flattened villages and killed at least 55 people.

The tremor, shortly after midnight local time, struck just 31 km (19 miles) southwest of the epicentre of last Monday's magnitude 7.5 quake that has left government and aid agencies scrambling to provide emergency supplies to the remote region.

Australia and New Zealand said on Wednesday they would increase aid to Papua New Guinea.

Australia will deploy three helicopters this week to deliver aid, while New Zealand will send a second military plane to distribute medical equipment, hygiene kits and tarpaulins.

Wednesday's quake was the most severe of a series of aftershocks that have rattled the resource-rich region, about 600 km (370 miles) northwest of the capital Port Moresby.

William Bando, the administrator of Hela Province, said initial reports put the death toll from the aftershock at 18.

"It appears Hides was hardest hit. We haven't heard about potential casualties there yet, but it is a big village with many people," he added.

Manasseh Makiba, Papua New Guinea's Vice Minister for Petroleum & Energy who represents parts of Hela Province in parliament, said victims were still being found.

"People are still being extracted from mud. People are still being taken to hospitals," he said.

Local media outlets reported the death toll from the original quake had risen to 75, after government officials said previously that 55 people had been killed.

A spokeswoman at Papua New Guinea's National Disaster Centre said on Wednesday that authorities were finalising a final report into the casualties from the first quake.

James Komengi, a United Church project officer, speaking from Tari, the capital of quake-affected Hela province, said his church's assessment and response centre had counted up to 67 deaths in that province alone.

Aid efforts are being hampered as rescue workers struggle to reach the highlands area as many roads are either badly damaged or blocked.

The International Red Cross warned the situation could deteriorate if heavy rains hit the region.

"We are anxious to reach communities while there is a lull in what is usually a season of heavy rain. A big downpour could bring landslides in hillsides already destabilised by the earthquake, cause floods and contaminate water," said Udaya Regmi, Director the International Red Cross in Papua New Guinea.

The Red Cross said its initial assessments indicate that as many as 143,000 people could have been affected, with an estimated 500 people injured and 17,000 people displaced from their homes. Even in more accessible areas of the country, health facilities have been damaged.

ExxonMobil, which shut its $19 billion PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project after the first quake, said on Wednesday its facilities in Hides, where it runs a gas conditioning plant, were safely shut in. All employees and contractors were safe.

Following last week's 4.6 magnitude earthquake in the UK, which was felt from Cornwall to Liverpool, a British Geological Survey tweet stated that, "Events of this magnitude only happen in the UK every 2-3 years."

Actually, there have been about 7 similar-strength quakes in the UK in the last 3 years alone...

22 May 2015 - A 4.2 magnitude earthquake 'causes homes to shake' in Kent, UK
25 May 2015 - Magnitude 3.0 earthquake recorded in North Wales
29 Jan 2015 - Britain's second earthquake in 48 hours strikes in East Midlands
7 Mar 2016 - Earthquake 'shook houses' in south-east England
3 Jan 2017 - 3.9 magnitude tremor strikes off UK coast - biggest quake for nearly a decade
4 July 2017 - Earthquake recorded off Shetland was largest in UK for nine years
5 Aug 2017 - Scottish Highlands are rocked by their biggest earthquake for 30 years

We are seeing a marked increase in seismic activity around the world lately, could it be related to scientists' predictions that major earthquakes for 2018 due to slowdown in Earth's rotation?

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