Aftershock leaves 18 dead as PNG struggles to cope

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Papua New Guinea’s mountainous Southern Highlands on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, an official said, a week after a larger quake flattened villages and killed at least 55 people.

Wednesday’s quake was the most severe of a series of aftershocks that have rattled the resource-rich region, about 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Port Moresby.

William Bando, the administrator of Hela Province, said initial reports put the death toll from the aftershock at 18.

“It appears Hides was hardest hit. We haven’t heard about potential casualties there yet, but it is a big village with many people,” he added.

Southern Highlands Governor William Powi said people were feeling traumatized from the disaster and ongoing aftershocks.

It was the strongest shake since the Feb 26 deadly magnitude 7.5 quake that destroyed homes, triggered landslides and halted work at four oil and gas fields.

The central region where last week’s quake struck is remote and undeveloped, and assessments about the scale of the damage and injuries have been slow to filter out.

Powi said he didn’t know if the latest aftershock had caused more injuries or damage, but he said it had added to the distress people were feeling.

“It is beyond the capacity of the provincial government to cope with the magnitude of destruction and devastation,” he said. “Our people are traumatized and finding it difficult to cope.”

Among the 55 dead in the powerful earthquake last week, Powi said 39 people died in his province after families were crushed by their collapsing homes or buried by landslides. He said death reports were still coming in from remote places, and he feared the death toll would rise to more than 100.

The US Geological Survey said Wednesday’s quake was centered 112 kilometers southwest of Porgera at a shallow depth of 10 km. Ten aftershocks in the hours since ranged between magnitude 4.7 and 5.2.

Aid efforts hampered

Australia and New Zealand said on Wednesday they would increase aid to Papua New Guinea.

Australia will deploy three helicopters this week to deliver aid, while New Zealand will send a second military plane to distribute medical equipment, hygiene kits and tarpaulins.

But aid efforts are being hampered as rescue workers struggle to reach the highlands area as many roads are either badly damaged or blocked.

The International Red Cross warned the situation could deteriorate if heavy rains hit the region.

The Red Cross said its initial assessments indicate that as many as 143,000 people could have been affected, with an estimated 500 people injured and 17,000 people displaced from their homes.

Papua New Guinea is home to 7 million people on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia. It sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic activity occur.