An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on Tuesday, damaging buildings and vehicles with a minimum of one individual reported killed.
Vanuatu state broadcaster VBTC confirmed footage of automobiles crushed in a constructing collapse on a avenue lined with retailers. The broadcaster reported one individual had been trapped in a collapsed constructing.
Different footage posted on social media confirmed buckled home windows and collapsed concrete pillars on a constructing internet hosting international missions within the capital, together with the U.S., British, French and New Zealand embassies.
“Our Excessive Fee constructing, which is co-located with the USA, the French and the UK, has sustained important harm,” a spokesperson for New Zealand’s international ministry stated in a press release.
There have been communications outages throughout the nation, the assertion added.
Police reported a minimum of one individual had been killed and injured folks had been taken to hospital, based on Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Challenge primarily based in Vanuatu, in a publish on X.
“I noticed three folks significantly injured on gurneys ready remedy,” he stated.
“There’s substantial harm round city. We’ve received a constructing that has pancaked,” McGarry advised the Australian Broadcasting Company in an interview.
The street connecting Port Vila to its predominant port was blocked by landslides, he added. Reuters was not capable of instantly capable of verify the casualty figures, with authorities in Vanuatu not reachable for remark.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stated the quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The U.S. Tsunami Warning System cancelled an preliminary tsunami warning for Vanuatu.
Authorities within the U.S., Australia and New Zealand stated there was no tsunami risk to their territories.
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