Report: Earthquake natural

HELA Governor Philip Undialu has cast doubt on an Australian government report which cleared resource companies of blame for the recent earthquake.
The report by Australian government agency Geoscience Australia cleared mining and hydrocarbon companies of any wrongdoing over the 7.5 magnitude earthquake which caused much devastation in the Highlands. Undialu and Hela provincial administrator William Bando were given copies of the report by Oil Search staff in Moro last Saturday.
He said an independent investigation must be conducted into the earthquake under the terms of reference of the Hela government.
The report said there was significant public concern that industrial activities such as mining or hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Highlands, could have contributed to the earthquake.
The report said:
“While the Feb 26 earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Highlands since 1900, its occurence was consistent with the known seismic characteristics of the region;
“The high frequence of earthquakes in this region is due to natural tectonic processes that have been recognised by many geological studies of the region over the past half-century;
“The size of the earthquake and intensity of the ground shaking of this event are consistent with the regional plate tectonics that have formed the New Guinea Highlands over millions of years;
“The depth at which this earthquake started (17km or more) is not consistent with earthquakes triggered through mining or hydrocarbon and extraction activities, which generally occur at depths less than 5km; and
“The Feb 26 earthquake is highly unlikely to have been triggered through mining or hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities.”