Almost 18 people were killed by a 6.7-magnitude earthquake Wednesday night in Papua New Guinea’s mountainous South Felföld province, where 9 days ago, serious damage was caused by a powerful quake.
The natural disaster that occurred shortly after midnight has been the biggest uterus ever since the earthquake of 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, which has led to ruinous villages and has given rise to landslides, according to the latest data, and killed 75 people in New Guinea’s oceans eastern part of the country.
“Now I got the reports that 18 people died in the night,” said Governor of Hela, William Bando.
The epicenter of the new earthquake, according to the US Geological Institute (USGS), is 112 kilometers to the southwest of Porgera, its nest is about 33 kilometers deep.
News agencies note that Papua New Guinea authorities and aid organizations are still struggling to reach settlements in the low-slope areas hit by the disaster of 26 February.
Aid agencies a week later estimated that about 150,000 people needed urgent help. Australia, New Zealand, and the Red Cross also promised to help, but reaching the remote area is a humiliating one because of dangerous terrain, bad weather, damaged roadways, runways and telecommunications equipment. The trouble can only be ejected by helicopter and the damage can not be fully assessed once a week after the earthquake.
Local media reported on Tuesday that the number of victims of earth moving last year rose to 75. Government officials had known about 55 dead a day earlier.
Papua New Guinea is located along the 40,000-kilometer long so-called Pacific Fire Ring, where there are many active volcanoes due to the encounter of tectonic plates and frequent earth moving.