The Pacific Tsunami Center says the threat in the wake of an earthquake off Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s New Ireland has largely passed.
Photo: US Geological Survey
A quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale was at a depth of 33 kilometres, sparking fears of a tsunami affecting PNG and to a lesser extent, much of the rest of the Pacific.
But the centre says the threat has now largely passed.
It says any remaining threat should be evaluated by local authorities in the impact areas.
The earthquake struck late this morning (PNG time), and its epicentre was near the town of Rabaul.
The acting director of the National Disaster Office in Papua New Guinea, Martin Mose, said there had been no reports of any damage from the quake.
"Up to now, we have not received any [reports of] impact so I would assume that there was not any significant impact at all," Mr Mose said.
"But we are still working closely with the Rabaul Vulcanological Observatory just to give us any recording, if there was any impact at all, together with the Geophysical Observatory on that."
Residents in East New Britain contacted by Radio New Zealand International also reported a strong tremor but no damage.
