Hazardous Tsunami Possible After 8.4 Magnitude Quake Hits Off Papua New Guinea

Strong tsunami waves are possible following an 8.4 magnitude earthquake, which occurred near Papua New Guinea in the Pacific on Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin.

Magnitude 8.0 earthquake 40 km west of Panguna, Papua New Guinea. Tsunami possible @USGS pic.twitter.com/lY9Kk8MBAl

— Maya Castro (@mayaashleyy) 22 января 2017 г.

"An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.4 occurred in the Solomon Islands at 0430 UTC on Sunday January 22 2017. Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters… widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible" for the upcoming three hours along the coasts of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia, the bulletin read.

Earlier in the day, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said that the earthquake struck 24.8 miles west the town of Panguna on Bougainville Island and was at the depth of 95.5 miles.

The island is located in the so-called Ring of Fire quake zone where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.