New Britain, Mar 30: An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale has struck off the southern coast of Papua New Guinea's New Britain Island. It has reportedly triggered a tsunami warning for surrounding coastlines.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred 144-km East of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea. The depth of the earthquake was 35.0 km depth.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage by far.

More details are awaited. Earlier on March 26, an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit PNG and on March 24, another quake of the magnitude 6.8 shook the country.

On that note, it is pertinent to mention that the country is still recovering from a magnitude 7.5 quake on 26 February.