According to USGS, the earthquake struck 133 km (83 miles) south-southwest of the town of Kokopo in the New Britain region at a depth of 63 km.
New Britain, the largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, is east of mainland New Guinea and has a population of around 500,000 people.
The island lies on the 4,000-kilometer-long Pacific Australia plate, which forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
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