A map shows the epicentre of the quake, which sparked a tsunami warning for parts of the Pacific.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Monday, triggering a tsunami warning for coastal communities across the South Pacific nation and the neighbouring Solomon Islands that was later lifted.

The quake hit 55 kilometres (34 miles) southeast of Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain province that's home to about 26,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which initially warned that waves as high as 3 meters were possible, said later the threat had mostly passed.

"We felt the earthquake for five minutes," said Mika Tuva, a payroll officer at the Rabaul Hotel, which wasn't damaged. "We thought it was going to be the volcano erupting again," she said by phone, referring to a 1994 eruption that caused Rabaul, a town of 8,000 people, to be evacuated.

The New Zealand Herald has reported that no Kiwis were thought to be affected by the quake.

There was no sign of damage from the earthquake at Rabaul airport and flights were landing as scheduled, Joe Tamlik, a safety officer, said by telephone. Local radio may have been knocked out, he said.

"We are still on the ground performing our duties," Tamlik said.

Papua New Guinea is in a zone where the Pacific, Indo- Australian and Philippine plates meet and constantly shift, sometimes causing earthquakes, some of them producing tsunamis. The quake hit at a depth of about 40 kilometres, the USGS said.

The earthquake was also felt on Lihir Island, about 130 kilometres further to the north, where a gold mine operated by Newcrest Mining Ltd. is located.

"The vibration is a bit like having a heavy roller go past the building," said Anthony Neck, chief financial officer for the Anitua Group of Companies that offers services to the mining industry such as catering, drilling and construction. "The building started to sway for around 30 seconds after the vibrations." There was no damage, he said.

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