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A strong quake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea Friday afternoon.
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A strong South Pacific earthquake did not generate a Pacific-wide tsunami, officials in Honolulu said Friday afternoon.
The magnitude-6.6 quake struck about 37 miles southwest of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, at a depth of about 15 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit at 11:04 a.m. Saturday near the epicenter (3:04 p.m. Friday in Hawaii), officials said. The USGS initially estimated the magnitude at 6.9 but later downgraded the temblor.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach issued a bulletin saying that there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii. However, officials said, quakes of this size can sometimes generate a tsunami within 100 kilometers of the epicenter.
