EarthQuake Killed at Least 15 in Papua New Guinea

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A powerful earthquake two days ago killed at least 15 people, injured dozens and brought work to a halt at four oil and gas fields in a remote Papua New Guinea region, the local governor said Wednesday.

His comments were the first confirmation of deaths from a high-ranking official after Monday's magnitude 7.5 earthquake severed communications and blocked roads in the central region, hindering assessment of the scale of the destruction. The National Disaster Center has declined to give numbers as it assesses the damage.

Southern Highlands Governor William Powi told The Associated Press that communication remains difficult and the death toll may rise. "We are looking at massive, catastrophic havoc and destruction," Powi said.

Four people in the provincial capital, Mendi, were killed when their house collapsed on them and three were killed when their home was struck by a landslide, Powi said. Eight others were killed elsewhere, he said, and the quake's victims included several children and a teenager.

"There are people who are traumatized, people in terrible devastation who have never felt this kind of destruction before," Powi said. "It has really brought a lot of fear into people's lives."