Buildings were flattened after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila, causing landslides, crushing cars and leveling multiple buildings, including a complex housing several Western embassies.

Electricity and mobile phone networks have been cut across the country, and the full extent of the damage remains unclear, but there are unconfirmed reports of at least one death.

Dan McGarry, a journalist who lives in Port Vila, said he saw “several people clearly seriously injured” outside the hospital’s emergency department.

Vanuatu is prone to earthquakes, but McGarry told the BBC that the quake, which occurred at 12:47 local time (01:47 GMT), appeared to be “the largest… in more than 20 years.”

“Emergency services will be busy for some time. We have limited equipment and capacity here (in Vanuatu),” Mr McGarry said, adding that police at Vila Central Hospital had told him one person had died, and that he expected one person to die. High death toll.

He showed one of the clips from the Facebook page of the state broadcaster VBTC Dozens of people outside Vila Central HospitalMany are lying on hospital gurneys awaiting treatment.

Michael Thompson, director of Vanuatu adventure company Jungle Zipline, told AFP news agency that he saw bodies lying in the streets.

“There are several buildings that have collapsed all over the city,” Thompson said, in a separate video posted on Facebook. “There is a major rescue operation on the way to extract people potentially alive in the building.”

Thompson’s wife, Amanda, told the BBC: “I thought the roof (of our house) was going to collapse.”

“We often get earthquakes here but not like this… The house has big cracks all over it, and the sliding glass doors are broken.

“We are now feeling a lot of aftershocks, each one making us nervous as we run out the door into the fresh air,” she said.

But Mr McGarry added that the latest disaster was something the people of Vanuatu “will get over”.

“People in Vanuatu deal with natural disasters on an annual basis. It is in our blood. We will get through this too, although not without some suffering,” he said.

Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of about 80 islands in the South Pacific, is located west of Fiji and thousands of kilometers east of northern Australia.

The country is located in a seismically active zone, and is prone to frequent large earthquakes and other natural disasters.

The US Embassy, ​​UK Embassy, ​​French Embassy and New Zealand High Commission were among the damaged buildings, all located in the same complex.

US officials said the building sustained “severe damage” and would be closed until further notice. They added that all employees in the building were evacuated safely.

Separately, Australian airline Jetstar canceled a flight scheduled for Wednesday morning from Sydney to Port Vila, citing “earthquake activity in Vanuatu and reports of potential damage to Port Vila airport infrastructure.”

The USGS reported at least four aftershocks around Port Vila — ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.5 — in the two hours after the first quake. The first earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi).

Authorities in neighboring New Zealand and Australia said there was no threat of a tsunami in their countries.

Australia also said it “stands ready to support Vanuatu as they assess the extent of the damage.”

“Vanuatu is a family and we will always be there in times of need,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote on X.

New Zealand said it was “deeply concerned” and monitoring the situation. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said: “Our thoughts are with the people and authorities of Vanuatu.”