6.9-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea's Bougainville

An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hit off Papua New Guinea's Bougainville Island on Saturday with no tsunami warning issued and no casualties reported yet. The quake happened at 0104 GMT and was centered 62 kilometers southwest of the town of Panguna on the island at a depth of 45 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has yet to issue tsunami warning and a low likelihood of casualties and damage was predicted. Panguna is an emerging town in southeast of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, an island nation lying in the circum-Pacific seismic belt.