Fears people trapped after big quake hits island nation
People are feared trapped in collapsed buildings in Vanuatu’s capital after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck just off the Pacific Island nation’s coast.
The quake occurred on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of 57 kilometres kilometres and was centred about 10 kilometres from Port Vila, the country’s largest city, on the main island of Efate, the United States Geological Survey said.
Local media reported the shaking lasted about 30 seconds, and there are widespread reports of landslides and damage.
Vanuatu-based journalist Dan McGarry said there was no doubt there had been casualties from the tremor.
“There are buildings down here so I’m expecting the casualty figure to rise,” he said.
“I know of one fatality, according to police stationed at Port Vila Central Hospital, and I saw with my own eyes three others on gurneys, several others walking around, walking wounded.
“I think it will probably be in the dozens, altogether dead and wounded.”
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Footage circulating online shows damage to a new building that housed the US, British, French and New Zealand embassies. Commentary online suggests the building’s entire ground floor has collapsed, with people believed to be trapped inside.
More footage showed cars crushed under the awnings of shops, with fears for those who were in the shops when the quake struck.
The jolt was followed by a magnitude 5.5 aftershock at the same location, along with more as the afternoon went on.
The USGS warned of tsunami waves for some coasts on Vanuatu, a group of 80 islands that is home to about 330,000 people. A tsunami of about a metre apparently hit Port Vila’s coast, and the warning was later cancelled.
There was no tsunami threat to Australia.
“There’s pretty horrific damage to infrastructure in Port Vila, Vanuatu, after the 7.3 magnitude earthquake today,” ABC News executive producer Nick Sas wrote on X.
“We’re seeing flattened/collapsed buildings, rubble everywhere.
Thankfully though, the tsunami threat has been cancelled.
Thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu RN.”
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Vanuatu government websites were offline in the aftermath of the quake, while communications with the Pacific Island nation remained sketchy well into the afternoon.
The Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office’s Fidel Zebeta said on Tuesday afternoon that the country’s geohazards agency’s “system” was running again and it would issue updates.
“Precautionary message going out to everyone, please move out from coastal areas to higher ground,” he said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, speaking shortly after the disaster, said the earthquake was “very serious” and “very troubling”.
“I’m confident I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we are thinking of the wonderful people of Vanuatu,” he said.
The Pacific Island nation lies on the “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000-kilometre seismically active arc around the rim of the Pacific tectonic plate.
“Vanuatu is situated, like New Zealand, on top of a subduction zone,” University of Auckland physics associate professor Kasper van Wijk said.
“This particular earthquake was shallow and close to Port Vila, so I expect there to be significant damage from the earthquake.”
The nation is still recovering from the impact of three major cyclones in 2023.
– with AAP
