Ref. OCHA/GVA - 2000/0216
OCHA Situation Report No. 3
Papua New Guinea - Earthquake
23 November 2000

The following information was provided by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Port Moresby through the OCHA Regional Disaster Response Advisor for the Pacific.

Records of Earthquakes and Damage

1. The following table summarizes the details of the major earthquakes which occurred between 16 and 21 November 2000, as recorded and reported by the Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory and the Rabaul Volcano Observatory.

CANBERRA (Nov. 19) XINHUA - Parts of the East New Britain province in northern Papua New Guinea (PNG) was rocked by another major earthquake just before midnight Saturday night, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported Sunday.

But the region's volcano and earthquake-seasoned residents had reoccupied towns they had fled in fear of a tsunami last Thursday, the AAP said.

It quoted local residents as saying on Sunday that a quake "of about four or five (on the Richter scale) hit just before midnight last night."

The quake lasted about 10 seconds, but

PORT MORESBY, Nov 18 (AFP) - An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale hit Papua New Guinea Saturday in the same area rocked by two big quakes two days ago.

Officials said the extent of any damage caused by the latest temblor would not be known until Sunday at the earliest.

The US Geological Survey reported the quake was a 7.3 and hit at 1401 GMT about 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Rabaul in New Britain province.

It said it was located in the same area as a magnitude 7.9 and a magnitude 7.7 on Thursday, which caused a small

Ref. OCHA/GVA - 2000/0213
OCHA Situation Report No. 2
Papua New Guinea - Earthquake
17 November 2000

The following information was provided by the Rabaul Volcano Observatory and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) through the OCHA Regional Disaster Response Advisor for the Pacific.

Situation and Damage

1. The first strong earthquake, measuring between 7 and 8 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 14.54 hrs local time or 4.54 hrs GMT on 16 November 2000. It was located 40 km north east of Rabaul, at a depth of 20-50 km. The Rabaul Volcano Observatory observed

The authorities in Northern Papua New Guinna have appealed for calm following a large earth quake this afternoon.

Richard Dinnen reports the quake measured more than Seven on the Richter Scale.

The quake was felt across East New Britain and New Ireland provinces. Residents in Rabaul Town have told me the ground shook strongly for almost a minute and that water in swimming pools and tanks developed half a metre waves while the quake continued. Preliminary estimates put the quake at between seven and eight on the Richter scale.

PORT-MORESBY, 16 novembre - Un séisme d'une magnitude mesurée à 8 sur l'échelle ouverte de Richter a provoqué jeudi une lame de fond à partir de la côte est de la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, rapporte jeudi Radio Australie.
Les premières mesures, enregistrées par l'observatoire météorologique de Tokyo (Japon), situent l'épicentre de ce tremblement de terre (survenu peu avant 5h00 GMT) près de l'archipel de Bismarck et des provinces insulaires de Nouvelle-Irlande et de Nouvelle-Bretagne de l'Est (est de l'île principale papoue), à une latitude estimée à 4 degrés sud, longitude 151 degrés.

Ref. OCHA/GVA - 2000/0211
OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Papua New Guinea - Earthquake
16 November 2000

1. Two strong earthquakes hit New Britain and New Ireland region in Papua New Guinea in the afternoon on 16 November 2000. (local time). According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first earthquake measured 8.0 on the Richter scale with the epicentre situated at latitude 3.9 degrees South and longitude 152.3 degrees East, approximately 30 km north-northeast of Rabaul in New Britain. Its origin