A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has jolted Papua New Guinea, the US Geological Survey said.
The USGS map shows that the quake was centered in an ocean area about 300 km east of the city of Vanimo, which is preparing to host Pope Francis over the weekend.
A photographer based in the provincial capital of Wewak told AFP there did not appear to be major damage in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits atop the seismic "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches across Southeast Asia and the entire Pacific Basin.
Although they rarely cause widespread damage in sparsely populated areas, they can trigger devastating landslides.
Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia earlier this week on the first leg of his 12-day tour.
On September 6, he will head to Christian-majority Papua New Guinea for a three-day visit during which he will stop briefly in Vanimo, a remote coastal town near the country's border with Indonesia. | BGNES
