State-owned operator DataCo suffered massive service disruption as eastern Papua New Guinea was hit by a powerful earthquake.
DataCo reported “multiple breakages” in subsea cables ranging between 17km to 170km outside the town of Madang, the capital of Madang province with a population of over 27,000.
The damaged cables were international cable PPC 1, KSCN System 1 which connects to Momase and New Guinea Islands region, and KSCN System 2 a connection between Madang and the capital Port Moresby.
The company said customers in those regions and locations that connect through Madang saw disruption to normal services.
No timeline was provided to get services back online, engineers have been sent to restore the damaged cables.
The company stated: “DataCo would like to thank our customers for your patience and understanding during this natural disaster and difficult times.”
Reuters reported, that Papua New Guinea was hit by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake which killed four people. Earthquakes are common in Papa New Guinea as the country is located on the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire, where two tectonic plates collide.
