Rabaul: The quake happened 128km (79 miles) southwest of Rabaul, a town that lies in the shadow of Mount Tavurvur, an active volcano.

A 6.7-magnitude earthquake has hit Papua New Guinea, followed by an even more intense aftershock measuring 7.1.

The US Geological Survey recorded the quakes a day after a 6.9 tremor shook the nation.

After the latest scare, people were warned of the possibility of a “hazardous tsunami”, but that alert has now been lifted.

Dr Roger Musson, of the British Geological Survey, told Sky News: “This is another thrust earthquake, which is the same sort of fault movement as occurred in the earthquake in Nepal.

“In this case, it is an ocean plate – the Solomon Sea is being pushed underneath New Britain (Island) – and it is a very active seismic zone, it’s produced much larger earthquakes than this one we’ve had.

“A magnitude of 7.1 is probably not big enough to have a large impact. There have been earthquakes as large as magnitude 8 in this area before.

“The last big one that we had in this area, of magnitude 8, caused a tsunami that killed about 40 people but this one, I think, is too small and too deep.”

There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property.

Rabaul, the town nearest where the earthquake hit, is on East New Britain Island.

It lies in the shadow of active volcano Mount Tavurvur. The town was destroyed 21 years ago when the volcano erupted.