Magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits Vanuatu; 1 reported dead
WELLINGTON—An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on Tuesday, damaging buildings and cars with at least one person reported killed.
Vanuatu state broadcaster VBTC showed footage of vehicles crushed in a building collapse on a street lined with retailers. The broadcaster reported one person had been trapped in a collapsed building.
Police said at least one person had been killed and injured people had been taken to hospital, Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project based in Vanuatu, told Reuters in an interview.
“It was the most violent earthquake I’ve experienced in my 21 years living in Vanuatu and in the Pacific Islands. I’ve seen a lot of large earthquakes, never one like this,” he said.
The road connecting Port Vila to the international shipping terminal was blocked by landslides, he added.
Foreign missions
Other footage posted on social media showed buckled windows and collapsed concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the US, British, French and New Zealand embassies.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Papua New Guinea said its embassy in Port Vila had sustained “considerable damage” and was closed until further notice.
