The Government of Papua New Guinea declared a state of emergency in several provinces affected by the earthquake.
More than 18 people died in the early hours of this Wednesday, as a result of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake in the mountainous area of Southern Highlands in Papua New Guinea.
This would be the second earthquake registered in the area in less than two weeks.
The earthquake was recorded at 0:00 am (local time) as reported by authorities, adding that this is the most important response since the earthquake last Monday.
Nine days ago, an earthquake of 7.5 on the Richter scale was recorded in this sector, which left at least 55 dead and serious damages in the mining sector and landslides.
"I have just been informed that 18 people have died tonight," said William Bando, administrator of Hela province.
"It seems that Hides has been the most affected area, we have not yet received information about possible victims there, but it is a large town with many people," he added.
Last Friday the Government of Papua New Guinea declared a state of emergency in several provinces affected by the earthquake.
For his part the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, said the Executive will allocate 450 million kinas (about 140 million dollars) for recovery work.
O'Neill also indicated that a state of emergency was declared to "accelerate the restoration of essential public services" in the Highlands region, one of the most affected, and he described the incident as "an unprecedented disaster" in that country.