Earthquake hits Vanuatu, reportedly killing at least 6 people on Pacific island nation, damaging U.S. embassy
Wellington, New Zealand — A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck just off the coast of Vanuatu on Tuesday, causing widespread destruction in the South Pacific island nation and reportedly killing at least six people. Casualties were arriving at hospitals and among the buildings seriously damaged in the capital of Port Vila was one that houses the U.S. embassy.
A tsunami warning was called off less than two hours after the quake. With communications still down hours later and official information scarce, witness accounts of casualties began to surface on social media and through patchy phone calls.
Katie Greenwood, the head of the International Federation of the Red Cross' Pacific branch, said in a social media post that at least six people had been confirmed dead and many more injured.
The temblor hit just before 1 p.m. at a depth of 35 miles and was centered 18 miles west of Port Vila, the largest city in Vanuatu — a group of 80 islands that's home to about 330,000 people. It was followed by a magnitude 5.5 aftershock near the same location, with tremors continuing throughout the afternoon and evening.
It wasn't immediately clear how much damage was caused as phone lines and government websites remained down, but Greenwood of the IFRC said multiple buildings had collapsed and the hospital in the capital was damaged.
Doctors were working "as fast as they could" at a triage center outside the emergency ward, journalist Dan McGarry told The Associated Press, adding that the nation wasn't well equipped to deal with a mass casualty event. Video shared by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation showed crowds outside the hospital.
In the first official information published by Vanuatu's government, the Geohazards Department said on social media that its monitoring systems remained offline due to power outages. Residents were urged to stay away from coastlines for at least 24 hours, and until tsunami and earthquake monitoring systems were operational once again.
A video posted on social media appeared to show crumpled buildings in Port Vila, including one that had collapsed onto its lower floors and cars parked on the street below. Amanda Laithwaite said her husband was among a group of rescuers attempting to shift the roof of the three-story building because they believed people were trapped inside, but their progress was slow without specialist machinery.
A building housing a number of diplomatic missions in Port Vila, including those of the U.S., Britain, France and New Zealand, was significantly damaged, several of its tenants said, but the U.S. Embassy said in a message posted on its Facebook page that all staff were safe, though the building was closed until further notice.
The U.S. mission only opened in July, as part of a wider push by the U.S. to expand its Pacific presence to counter China's burgeoning influence on governments in the region.
A video posted on social media showed the building with some damage, including buckled windows and debris that had crumbled from walls to the ground.
The French news agency AFP said its photos showed the ground floor of the diplomatic building completely flattened. The bottom floor "no longer exists," Vanuatu resident Michael Thompson told AFP by satellite phone after posting images of the destruction on social media. "It is just completely flat. The top three floors are still holding but they have dropped."
"There's people in the buildings in town. There were bodies there when we walked past," Thompson said. The quake also knocked down at least two bridges and toppled other buildings, he said.
McGarry, the journalist, said a "massive landslide" at the international shipping terminal was likely to impede the country's recovery. The airport's runway was also damaged, he said.
Vanuatu's position on a subduction zone — where the Indo-Australia tectonic plate moves beneath the Pacific Plate — means earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 6 aren't uncommon, and the country's buildings are intended to withstand quake damage.
"I think it could have been worse," McGarry said. But this was the most serious he had experienced during 21 years in Vanuatu, "by a long shot," he said.
Port Vila's airport couldn't be contacted Tuesday, but flight tracking sites suggested all flights were grounded. Some airlines in Australia and the Pacific said they had cancelled or paused flights scheduled for Wednesday and were awaiting news of the airport's status.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters her country would provide whatever help was needed. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said 45 New Zealanders were registered as being in Vanuatu and his government was "deeply concerned" about the situation there.
Vanuatu has been led by four prime ministers in four years and is due to go to the polls in January for a snap election. In November, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai asked President Nikenike Vurobaravu to dissolve Parliament so he wouldn't have to face a no-confidence vote as his recent predecessors did.
