A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Vanuatu islands in the early hours, causing widespread structural damage, casualties, and briefly triggering a tsunami alert in the Pacific Ocean archipelago, which is highly vulnerable to natural disasters.
An eyewitness told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he saw bodies in the capital, Port Vila.
Reuters reported at least one fatality and several injuries.
Videos uploaded to social media show extensive damage to a building housing foreign diplomatic missions, including those of the United States and France.
The earthquake’s epicentre, which occurred at 12:47 local time (03:47 Cyprus time), was located just 30 kilometres west of Port Vila with a focal depth of 43 kilometres in the offshore area, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The quake triggered an emergency bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC), though the alert was later cancelled.
A resident of Vanuatu, Michael Thompson, told AFP via satellite phone that he saw bodies in the capital. He also mentioned collapsed bridges, landslides, and disruptions to phone networks and internet access.
He described walking past “bodies” while crossing the city centre.
The US Embassy in Vanuatu will remain closed “until further notice” due to “significant damage” to its hosting building, according to a statement from the US diplomatic mission in Papua New Guinea. US citizens in the area were advised to contact the mission if they “require assistance.”
Footage uploaded online by Mr Thompson shows a building hosting several foreign diplomatic missions that has sustained extensive damage — the ground floor has collapsed.
“The ground floor no longer exists,” he described, explaining it was crushed by the three upper floors, which remained “standing.”
There are also reports of damage in other parts of the capital and the country.
Strong earthquakes are relatively common in Vanuatu, an archipelago of 320,000 people situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates intersect, causing significant seismic and volcanic activity.
Vanuatu ranks among the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters globally, whether earthquakes, storms, floods, or tsunamis, according to Mercer’s 2024 Global Risk Report.
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Source: ANA-MPA/AFP/Reuters
