Earthquakes
The 6.4-magnitude quake was reported at around 14:35 GMT with the epicentre located 47 km from the city of Namatanai, New Ireland. There is no official information about any victims or damage caused by the earthquake at the moment.
The report comes just a few months after another powerful quake struck 148 km (92 miles) south of the island of Rabaul.

A study by Princeton scientists into the boundary between the upper and lower mantle of the Earth have surprisingly found topography potentially 'rougher' than any mountain on Earth. They are located at a boundary 410 miles (600 kilometers) straight down into the Earth from the planet's surface.
A study by Princeton scientists into the boundary between the upper and lower mantle of the Earth have surprisingly found ridges and clefts that are potentially rougher than anything on Earth.
They are located at a boundary 410 miles (600 kilometers) straight down into the earth from the planet's surface.
Dr Wenbo Wu, one of the geophysicists on the paper said: 'In other words, stronger topography than the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachians is present at the 660-km boundary'.
Using wave data from a 8.2 magnitude earthquake in Bolivia, mountains and other topography were discovered on the base of the boundary.
The earthquake was the second-largest deep earthquake ever recorded and took place in 1994.
The most powerful waves on the planet come from giant earthquakes, that can generate shock waves which travel through the Earth's core to the other side of the planet in all directions and back again.
The data from the shock waves allow data scientists to study deep into the Earth by modelling wave data on the kind of topography that could have caused it to scatter in such a way.
The quake hit at a depth of 10 km and took place at 7:57 pm, according to United States Geological Survey (USGS).
No tsunami warning has been issued so far.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the Eurasian and North American plates, and in the South Atlantic, it separates the African and South American plates.
Source: ANI

A seismic boom contributed to the devastation of the Indonesian earthquake in 2018.
The earthquake struck on September 28, 2018, with a steady rupture speed of 9,171MPH, according to NASA, which says the primary shock lasted for nearly one minute. This was an unusually fast speed compared to the typical 5600 to 6700MPH speeds most earthquakes present. In addition, and thanks to satellite images, the researchers found that the earthquake resulted in the fault - measuring 93 miles in length - had slipped by around 16ft.
The supershear event's rapid speed caused stronger shaking on the ground than would have resulted from a slower earthquake. Helping put this into perspective, the study's co-author Lingsen Meng explained via NASA, "The intense shaking is similar to the sonic boom associated with a supersonic jet."

Strong tremors were felt across North India, the first being reported from Delhi-NCR and Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.
A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake jolted Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of North India on Saturday evening. Strong tremors were felt across North India, the first being reported from Delhi-NCR and Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the epicentre of the quake was Hindu Kush, which is a mountain range that stretches near the Afghan-Pakistan border, from central Afghanistan to northern Pakistan.
The earthquake hit at a depth of 10km in the Mentawai island region in West Sumatra province, about 100km south-east of the town of Tuapejat and 200km south of the major port city of Padang, according to the USGS.
Officials are still assessing the impact but there were no immediate reports of damage and casualties.
"The quake was felt very strongly in Tuapejat. Our officers are still assessing the impact but so far everything is safe," said the head of Mentawai search and rescue agency Akmal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
An official with emergency services in Chiapas said that he felt the quake but that he did not see any immediate damage. A Reuters witness said the quake was felt in San Salvador.
The epicenter of the quake hit at a depth of 42 miles (68 km) near the Pacific coast and Mexico's border with Guatemala, according to the USGS.
There were no immediate reports of major damage in Mexico City, though some people evacuated office buildings.
Source: Reuters
Shortly after, the area felt another smaller tremor, which registered 5.2 magnitude.
The earthquakes hit just south of the island between Fiji and Tonga, and were detected at a depth of over 500 km.
So far, there has been no tsunami alert issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
According to the USGS, the epicenter was 73 miles from Arawa, Papua New Guinea.
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author.









Comment: The Hindu reports: