Papua New Guinea quake: State of emergency expected

A national state of emergency is expected to be declared in Papua New Guinea as the extent of the damage and deaths from this week's earthquake becomes apparent. So far thirty people are reported to have died but there are reports of sides of mountains giving way, leaving huge landslips covering whole villages so the death toll's expected to rise. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs here says staff in Port Moresby are in close contact with Papua New Guinea authorities as they continue to monitor the situation. It says there have been no requests of assistance from local authorities so far. The Ministry says there are more than 100 New Zealanders registered as being in Papua New Guinea on Safe Travel.