Philippines condoles with quake-hit Papua New Guinea

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines expressed its sympathies to Papua New Guinea following a magnitude 6.7 aftershock early Wednesday.

A Papua New Guinea official said that th death toll could exceed 100 from the magnitude 7.5 quake on February 26, which destroyed homes and triggered landslides.

"We express our condolences to the government and people of Papua New Guinea and pray that last night’s aftershock would be the last," Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement released Friday.

No Filipinos have been reported among the fatalities in the last two earthquakes in the country, according to the Philippine Embassy in Port Moresby. An estimated 36,000 Filipinos live in Papua New Guinea and around 300 in the neighboring Solomon Islands.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier expressed solidarity with Papua New Guinea in the aftermath of last week's earthquake.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has met with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to personally convey Duterte's condolences.

The private sector delegation, which accompanied Piñol, had pledged to donate 1,000 bags and rice and a 40-foot container of canned goods for the quake victims, the DFA said.

The US Geological Survey said Wednesday's earthquake measured magnitude 6.7 and was centered 112 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Porgera. It was fairly shallow at a depth of 22.9 kilometers (14.3 miles). Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface.

USGS said the quake was followed by two others measuring magnitude 5.0 and 5.1. Strong quakes also hit earlier in the day.

The region is remote and sparsely populated, making information about possible damage and injuries hard to confirm.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake on February 26 killed at least 15 people, injured dozens and brought work to a halt at four oil and gas fields. — Patricia Lourdes Viray with Associated Press