Severe damage to telephone networks and roads from a strong earthquake in Papua New Guinea hampered Tuesday’s efforts to evaluate the extent of the damage, although officials within the distant central region feared dozens of individuals could have been injured or killed.
The government has confirmed no deaths after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific country’s central highlands region early Monday morning. Aftershocks continued to hit the world.
Hela provincial administrator William Bando said telephone networks were cut, power lines downed and roads blocked by landslides. He said the earthquake was a disaster on a scale he had never experienced before.
“There is huge, huge disruption,” Bando said.
He said he had heard reports of dozens of deaths and injuries but couldn’t confirm them.
The National Disaster Center said it was conducting a rapid assessment of the situation using the bottom and helicopter to relay information to the federal government.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said authorities were assessing the damage and preparing to supply assistance.
“There are communities that have been impacted by this natural disaster, which is why we are deploying our troops and other government agencies to support our people in their time of need,” O’Neill said in a press release.
The quake also disrupted operations at oil and gas plants, mines and low plantations.
ExxonMobil Papua New Guinea closed its airport and gas conditioning facility, leading to damage to administrative buildings, living quarters and a canteen. The company also evacuated unnecessary employees.
Managing director Andrew Barry said he was attempting to re-establish communication with nearby communities to grasp the broader impacts of the earthquake.
“We are deeply saddened by the damage this natural phenomenon has caused to the inhabitants of the mountainous provinces,” he said in a press release.
Aid agencies said they were able to help but were also waiting for more information. Udaya Regmi, national head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said 20 volunteers were on standby but accurate information was difficult to acquire.
The earthquake occurred about 89 km (55 mi) southwest of Porgera, the location of a giant gold mine that employs greater than 2,500 staff. Several aftershocks exceeding magnitude 5 hit the region, including a magnitude 6.3 on Tuesday.
The quake also caused panic and destruction of buildings across the border in eastern Indonesia.
Papua New Guinea is situated within the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of seismic faults across the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes occur ceaselessly.
