“This is the most violent earthquake”: at least 14 dead and 200 injured in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu

Les communications ont été interrompues dans tout le pays. MAXPPP – Vanuatu Police Force

L’Australie procède ce mercredi 18 décembre au déploiement par avions militaires de médecins et d’équipes de secouristes après le séisme de magnitude 7,4 qui a frappé la capitale du Vanuatu, Port Vila.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila, on Tuesday. Red Cross Pacific chief Katie Greenwood gave the death toll as “14 confirmed dead and 200 injured being treated at Port Vila's main hospital”, citing the local government. Rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the rubble of destroyed buildings, according to the Red Cross.

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Local broadcaster VBTC broadcast footage of vehicles crushed by a collapsing building and said one person was trapped under rubble.

“This is the strongest earthquake I have seen in 21 years of living in Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands. I have seen many big earthquakes, but never one like this,”, Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), told Reuters.

Images of the damage broadcast

Images posted on social media showed damage to a building housing the US, British, French and New Zealand embassies, among others. A spokesman for the US embassy in Papua New Guinea said its embassy in Port Vila had suffered “considerable damage” and was closed until further notice.

Communications were down across the country, the statement said, while the Australian High Commission in Vanuatu said its communications systems were also affected. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres and that half a dozen aftershocks struck Vanuatu after the initial quake.

“There was one that knocked us all off our feet and got us ready to go again. But none of them were as bad as the initial shock,”, Dan McGarry said. A tsunami warning had been issued earlier, but was cancelled by the US system that issues such warnings. US, Australian and New Zealand authorities have said there is no tsunami threat to their territories.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia was closely monitoring the situation following the “devastating earthquake”. “We stand ready to support Vanuatu as the extent of the damage is assessed. Vanuatu is part of our family and we will always be there if needed,” she said in a statement.