Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - The number of deaths from a "significant" earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on Sunday has r...
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| Image: Reuters |
At 9:46 a.m. on Sunday, a 7.6-magnitude quake hit the Markham Valley. An hour later, a 5.0-magnitude quake hit 70 km (45 miles) north, said Police Commissioner David Manning in a statement on Monday.
He said that the two earthquakes happened 90 km and 101 km underground.
He said that there was a lot of damage to buildings and roads, as well as landslides, in the provinces of Morobe, Eastern Highlands, and Madang.
"Seven people have died as a result of these landslides," he said. "Three of them died in Kabwum District, three in Wau Town, both in Morobe Province, and one in Rai Coast, in Madang Province."
"This was a big earthquake, but it happened deep underground, so there wasn't as much damage as if it had happened closer to the surface," he said.
Manolos Aviation, an airline, set up medical evacuations from the village of Kombul in the district of Kabwum.
Erebiri Zurenuoc, a Manolos Aviation public relations officer who was at the scene in Kombul, said, "Half of the mountain is gone."
The government has set up a National Command Center, and a COVID-19 hotline has been repurposed to help people find out about earthquake damage.
Manning said that damage had been done to the power grid, internet cables, roads, and highways in the area.
He said that in the province of Eastern Highlands, damage was done to the University of Goroka and students were hurt. Engineers are looking at the damage to the Yonki Dam that caused the power to go out.
Several people were hurt in Madang province, where buildings and homes were damaged, and one person died on the Rai Coast, he said.
He said there was a big chance of aftershocks.
