Buildings are flattened as a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Vanuatu

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, causing landslides, overturning cars and flattening many buildings, including a building housing many western embassies.

Electricity and mobile networks across the country have been cut and the extent of the damage is not yet clear, but there are unconfirmed reports of at least one death.

Dan McGarry, a journalist based in Port Vila, said he saw “a number of people who looked seriously injured” outside the hospital’s emergency department.

Vanuatu is prone to earthquakes, but Mr McGarry told the BBC that the quake, which struck at 12:47 local time (01:47 GMT), felt like “the biggest … in more than 20 years”.

“Emergency services will be busy for a while. We have limited equipment and power here [in Vanuatu]”, said Mr McGarry, adding that the police at the Vila Central Hospital told him that one person had died, and he expected the death toll to rise.

One of its clips from broadcaster VBTC’s Facebook page was shown a lot of people outside the Vila Central Hospitalmany are lying on hospital corpses waiting for treatment.

Michael Thompson, director of entertainment company Vanuatu Jungle Zipline, told AFP he saw bodies lying on the roads.

“There are a lot of buildings that have collapsed in the city. There is a huge rescue operation for people who may be alive in the building,” said Mr Thompson, in a separate video posted on Facebook.

“I thought of the ceiling [of our house] he was going down, Mr Thompson’s wife Amanda told the BBC.

“We often have earthquakes here but not like this.. The house has huge cracks all over the place, the sliding glass doors are broken.

“We are feeling a lot of movement now, each one of us is shaking as we go out the door to open the air,” she said.

However, Mr McGarry added that the latest tragedy was something the people of Vanuatu would “get over”.

“The people of Vanuatu face natural disasters every year. It is in our blood. We will face this, even if it is not without suffering,” he said.

The United States Embassy, ​​the United Kingdom Embassy, ​​the French Embassy and the New Zealand High Commission were among the damaged buildings, all housed in the same area.

US officials said the building suffered “extensive damage” and will be closed until further notice.

The United States Geological Survey reported at least four aftershocks near Port Vila – ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.5 – in the two hours after the first quake. The first earthquake struck at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi).

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

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

“Vanuatu is 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 was monitoring the situation. “Our thoughts are with the people and authorities of Vanuatu,” said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of about 80 islands, is in a volatile region and is prone to frequent major earthquakes and other natural disasters.