Massive 7.6 earthquake rocks Papua New Guinea

While the extent of the damage remains unclear, photos showed debris strewn across highways and cracks opening up in roads. The quake struck at a depth of 90 kilometers (roughly 56 miles) near Kainantu, a town with a population of roughly 8,500 people, the The “ring” stretches along a 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) arc from the boundary of the Pacific Plate, to smaller plates such as the Philippine Sea plate, to the Cocos and Nazca Plates that line the edge of the Pacific Ocean.It is home to the world’s most active volcanoes.People most at risk from volcanic eruptions and earthquakes live in countries that lie along the Ring of Fire, including Chile, Japan, the US west coast, and other island nations including the Solomon Islands to the western seaboard of North and South Americas.CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story quoted the Australian Red Cross as saying at least 16 people had been killed. The Red Cross has confirmed that death toll is incorrect, and related to a statement concerning a previous earthquake in Papua New Guinea that was mistakenly circulated.