Papua New Guinea assesses damage after powerful earthquake

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Disaster relief workers in Papua New Guinea are assessing the extent of damage in a remote region following a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake. The head of the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory says some buildings and homes were destroyed near the epicenter of Monday’s quake in the northern part of the Pacific nation. Disaster relief workers are trying to verify whether there are any deaths or serious injuries. The region is marked by swamps and canals and people tend to live subsistence lives hunting and fishing. Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia and north of Australia. A magnitude 7.6 quake in September was later found to have killed 21 people.