At least five dead in a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea experienced a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that left at least five dead. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at a depth of 38 miles about 41 miles from the eastern town of Kainantu. The quake shook the country, damaged buildings and triggered landslides. As per information, two persons died in remote mountain villages. Three others were buried alive. Arrangements were made to airlift four others to hospital. They were in critical condition. There was widespread damage as a landslide buried homes and “split” one village where people “lost their houses.” The nation’s leader, James Marape, described the earthquake as “massive.” He advised his people to be cautious and added that the damage would not be as massive as the 2018 earthquake. It had killed an estimated 150 people. Five killed as powerful earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea. The authorities have yet to assess the extent of damage and number of casualties.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Asia and the Pacific said people had suffered injuries from falling structures or debris, and some health centers, homes, rural roads and highways are damaged. There are damages in the power infrastructure with consequent outages across the Eastern Highlands. Residents shared images and videos on social media of cracked roads, damaged buildings and cars, and items falling off supermarket shelves. Small aviation companies and missionary groups involved themselves to airlift some of the injured across the rugged jungle landscape. Locals who resided near the epicenter described the vibration as much more vigorous than previous quakes. Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea because it sits on the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire.” This is a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. A 9.1 magnitude quake in Indonesia in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region.

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Asylum seekers in Manus Island swallow razor blades for self-destruction

#manusisland #asylumseeker #hungerstrike #razorblade Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea is where asylum seekers headed for Australia are kept while their cases are processed. Right now there are nearly 700 of them in the Australian immigration center and, unable to gain entry into Australia, the have resorted to hunger strike and other self-destruction methods like swallowing razor blades, sewing their lips together, or even trying to hang themselves.
Many of these asylum seekers arrive in the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea, at times in unsafe boats after paying people-smugglers in Indonesia.
However, this attempts to commit suicide appears to contradict the claims of the government that protests had ended after security guards had stormed the compound and allegedly took some detainees into solitary confinement.
The hunger strikes had begun last week has entered its 9th day. It started after the detainees who were granted refugee status were told that they would be shifted out of the detention center and moved into an unguarded facility in the capital of Lorengau. The seekers felt that such a move would lead to attacks by locals.
The fears are genuine because Manus Island is one of the poorest regions of Papua New Guinea and the locals have repeatedly expressed anger at the prospect of refugees being resettled in a community that is already starved of employment opportunities.
Incidentally, journalists are not allowed to go to Manus Island, hence, it is difficult to verify information about the protests.

A miracle - Papua New Guinea fishermen, adrift in the sea for five months, rescued

There were three fishermen of Papua New Guinea who had been adrift in the Pacific Ocean for five months and two of them have now been rescued – the third had died. The two who have been rescued are now recovering in a Pacific hospital in the town of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands.
They had endured a five month ordeal drifting helplessly in an open boat and had survived by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater.
They were finally picked up by a fishing boat called Yap Seagull, about 120 miles south of remote Kapingamarangi Island and the doctors have described them as being in 'reasonable' condition considering the months that they had spent drifting across the ocean.
While the full details are yet to be established, it is understood that they had drifted helplessly for at least 1000 miles. They had set out on a fishing trip in early July from their village in the province of New Ireland, which comes under Papua New Guinea administration. It seems they became to victims of engine break down of their boat and then victims of the ocean currents.