A strong 6.9-magnitude earthquake has struck off Papua New Guinea's coast, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The quake struck at a depth of 10km near the southern coast of New Britain island at 6.04am local time (7.04am AEDT) on Saturday, about 194 kilometres south-east of the nearest major town Kimbe, it said.
The US Tsunami Warning Center later on Saturday morning called off a tsunami alert it issued immediately after the quake.
Raphael Sislelrea, who manages a resort on the coast of Pomio district close to the earthquake epicentre, said there had been no destruction to buildings and everyone was safe.
The shaking lasted a few minutes, he said.
"People were sleeping when it happened and they all ran outside," he told the ABC.
"Everyone was scared, but everything is OK. It's back to normal now.
"I ran into some women going to get food in the garden and I told them to go quickly and come back [to their house] in case there's another tremor."
Mr Sislelrea said he noticed fish jumping in the water around the time of the earthquake but otherwise the ocean was relatively calm.
Barbara Aigilo, who runs the reception at Walindi Dive Resort in Kimbe Province, said she felt a small tremor about 6am.
"We felt it here, but it was a very slight one, it wasn't big enough to cause damage. Everything is fine here," she told the ABC.
Marolyn Simbiken, a receptionist at Kimbe's Liamo Reef Resort, said so far she had not seen any damage.
"We did feel the earthquake here," she told AFP.
"But there's not big damage. Nothing was damaged here and there was no evacuation."
Earthquakes are relatively common on the island of New Britain, which is home to several active volcanoes.
The tremor was reportedly felt as far away as the capital, Port Moresby, about 620km away from the earthquake epicentre.
PNG authorities said it was also felt in Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain Province.
Multiple smaller quakes ranging between 4.9 and 5.3 in magnitude struck afterwards near the same area of sea, according to the USGS.
More than 500,000 people live on the island of New Britain.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat to Australia.
Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world's earthquake and volcanic activity occurs.
ABC/AFP/AP
