Hazardous tsunami waves could hit coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Nauru and other islands in the three hours following the quake, the PTWC said.
The quake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time and was originally recorded at 8.0-magnitude and then slightly revised down to 7.9. It struck at a depth of some 75 km, the USGS said.