People in the northwest part of New Britain have been urged to stay alert after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit this morning at 6:05am, April 5th, 2025. According to a member of the West New Britain Provincial Disaster - Kimbe Volcano Observatory Officer in Charge Mr. Hereman Volele, they are still monitoring the situation at this time. He said, the earthquake shook Pomio and came down to northwest of New Britain, where the Ulawun station is. He said, after the earthquake that struck in the early hours of this morning, his team is very busy at this time as they are monitoring increased seismic activity around Mt Ulawun which is currently on Stage-One. “Stage-One means that you have to get yourself alert, meaning that you have to be prepared and get your emergency bag ready. Emergency bag contains water, you know, service card, school certificates and medical, things like utensils from the kitchen, beddings and such, and then you have to put yourself into, a situation that we are getting ready just about whatever comes in the event of fluctuation of the activity. And then we will let the communities to move in the events where you get stage two.” He said, in the event when anything strikes, either an earthquake or a volcano eruption, the people are already prepared. So far, no causalities and no damages have been reported yet at this time. He added that, there could be a tsunami warning, but his team are waiting on reports from the Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby to give more updates. He said, “We identified that kind of earthquake as a natural earthquake because after it hit Pomeo, it came down to northwest of New Britain, where Mt Ulawun is.” He has called on the coastal communities living around a radius of 40 kilometers of New Britain not to go out to sea, especially fishing and urged parents to watch over their children during the holiday break and the Stage-One notice.