A tsunami warning has been issued for Papua New Guinea after a massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck about 108 miles east-southeast of Kimbe, a border town on the northeastern portion of the island, which is situated just north of Australia.
The tremor prompted tsunami warnings for the entirety of the New Britain region, but the authorities confirmed there wasn't a threat to Hawaii, which is located about 4,448 miles away in the Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued an official statement clarifying that the earthquake doesn't pose a risk to other regions. Local authorities continue to monitor the situation and have urged residents to stay alert.
The depth of the earthquake was reportedly about 29 miles, according to the Tsunami Warning Center. The earthquake was just one in a series of powerful tremors that have rocked several regions of the world in recent months.
Just a few days ago, tsunami warnings were issued in Tonga after the Pacific island was struck by a similarly powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Those warnings were later lifted.
Residents were under evacuation orders as they braced for the second prong of the natural disaster and aftershocks. People were instructed to move to higher ground or go further inland because of hazardous waves, though officials believe the island is no longer under threat of a tsunami.
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No initial damage was reported on the island, nor were there any deaths immediately reported. It wasn't clear if there were any injuries.
The people of Myanmar weren't so lucky last week — an even more powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the Southeast Asian country, killing over 3,000 and injuring an additional 4,500 at the least.
The tremor, which, by some measurements, reached a magnitude of up to 8.2 on the Richter scale, was even felt 600 miles away in Bangkok, Thailand, where it collapsed a skyscraper, killing over a dozen people.
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One harrowing account detailed how a 63-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building after spending 91 hours trapped underneath it, which is nearly four full days. She was still alive.
Pictures and videos from the region are disturbing — the carnage is widespread. Humanitarian and aid groups have said the situation in the country is dire and that the Burmese people need a lot of resources to help them recover from the tragedy.
Some aid officials slammed the U.S. government — specifically the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its leader, Elon Musk, as well as President Donald Trump, for dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which used to provide immediate assistance to disaster-stricken regions of the world.
Because of the gutting of the agency, aid wasn't received in Myanmar until days after the earthquake — and by then, it was too late, as a crucial window for search and rescue operations had already passed.
