SYDNEY, Dec 17 - Vanuatu's capital Port Vila was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, causing "significant damage" to some buildings, including the joint diplomatic mission.
The earthquake struck 30 km west of Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, at 12:47 local time and was 43 km deep, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
At least one person has died and a triage room has been set up at a hospital in Port Vila for mass casualties following the Vanuatu earthquake, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said.
Information on the extent of the damage was hampered by intermittent communications, with phone lines and government websites down, but reports of widespread destruction began appearing on social media just hours after the quake struck, Australia's Guardian newspaper reported.
A spokesman for the Fiji Red Cross said workers on the ground were reporting significant damage, Guardian Australia reported. Footage shared by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation showed crowds of people outside the central hospital in Vila lifting the injured onto stretchers.
Guardian Australia quoted Dan McGarry's, a Port Vila journalist who said he saw three people on stretchers outside the hospital "in obvious distress".
"It was the strongest earthquake I have experienced in my 21 years of living in Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands," McGarry said, "I've seen a lot of big earthquakes, but never one like this."
The embassy building of the United Kingdom, United States, France and New Zealand was damaged in the quake, ABC reported.
The New Zealand High Commission building, which is co-located with the US, French and British missions, "suffered significant damage", a New Zealand Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.
Many large buildings collapsed in Port Vila, electricity was out in much of the capital and water supplies were cut off, the non-profit humanitarian organisation Care Australia said in a statement.
The Australian High Commission in Port Vila was evacuated during Tuesday's earthquake, the ABC reported.
There were communications outages across the country, the New Zealand statement added, while the Australian High Commission in Vanuatu said its communications systems were also affected after the Vanuatu earthquake.
Port Vila residents recall the terrifying moments of the earthquake
Twenty Years Emma Thompson was at a restaurant in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, on Tuesday, where the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck.
"As soon as we started to take a few steps, the entire floor of the restaurant building caved in about 40 centimetres and all the steel was sticking out of the building. I was lying on the floor and I had a statue all over my leg," She said.
The quake struck 30 km west of Port Vila at 12:47 local time (01:47 GMT) and was 43 km deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Thompson recalled that a nearby building had completely collapsed to the ground and many people were trapped inside.
"We don't have access to any heavy equipment ... because the bridges are out of order," she said, adding that trying to get into the collapsed buildings is difficult without heavy equipment to lift the debris.
A local Chinese supermarket owner told Xinhua news agency that most of the country is experiencing power and water outages. Due to the disruption of mobile communication networks, communication with the outside world relies mainly on "Starlink".
The shop owner said that although her shop was left in a complete mess after the earthquake, she was relieved that her family and friends were safe.
"Earthquakes often happen here, but this time it was different," said Mr Luo, who has lived in Vanuatu for more than a decade. "There are huge cracks all over the house," he said, adding that there were many aftershocks, which made him very nervous.
A video circulating on social media shows the damaged building in Port Vila. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the building was the embassy of the United Kingdom, the United States, France and New Zealand.
The U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the U.S. Embassy in Port Vila "has suffered significant damage and is closed until further notice".
A number of airlines have had to cancel or divert their scheduled flights to and from Vanuatu following the earthquake.
Fiji Airways had to turn the flight around in mid-air because its pilot could not connect with Port Vila airport to land, ABC reported.
Currently, rescue operations are still underway in the country.
Xinhua/ gnews - RoZ
Screenshots from a video show a crack in a road, a street view and a damaged building after an earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on Dec. 17, 2024. (Xinhua)
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