Major quake halts oil and gas operations in Papua New Guinea

Melbourne

AT least one company began evacuating non-essential personnel after a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Papua New Guinea's energy-rich interior on Monday, causing landslides, damaging buildings and closing oil and gas operations.

The tremor hit in the rugged, heavily forested Southern Highlands about 560km north-west of the capital Port Moresby at around 3.45am local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).