The Indonesian region of Irian Jaya in Papua has been struck by an earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.0, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake, believed to be 32.8 miles deep, was centred 154 miles west of Jayapura, near Papua New Guinea, at 6:41am local time. There was no immediate information on damage or casualties.
Last night the Australian government insisted that there was “no Tsunami threat” and the incident in the region, which is largely vegetation and mountains, is unlikely to have led to loss of life.
In March 2012 a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the region without any tsunami warning issued or loss or reports of damage.
One of Irian Jaya’s worst earthquakes was in 1981, which killed at least 305 people and displaced more than a 1,000 villagers in the district of Kurina Areal, near the border of Papua New Guinea.
Further details are expected in the next six to eight hours, authorities in Jakarta said.
