Sydney : A tsunami alert was issued on Sunday for the Pacific after a powerful undersea earthquake measuring 7.9-magnitude on the Richter scale struck Papua New Guinea.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck 41 km northwest of Panguna on the island of Bougainville, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Vanuatu and Indonesia," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.-Agency