A deadly earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter Scale wrecked the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, on Tuesday, December 17. Many injured are arriving at the hospitals, while casualties remain unconfirmed.
The earthquake occurred around 1 pm local time, with the epicentre located 30 km away from the capital city of Port Vila and at a depth of 57 km below the ground level.
The initial tremor was followed by an aftershock, with a magnitude of 5.5 near the same location, and continued tremors through the evening.
Vanuatu is home to about 3,33,000 people. The island nation is facing massive power and communication outages, making it difficult for the outside world to determine the damage caused by the earthquake.
Residents were urged to stay away from coastlines for at least 24 hours and until tsunami and earthquake monitoring systems were operational once again.
No confirmed reports of damage or casualties were provided but accounts detailing widespread destruction filtered out on social media and in interviews.
A tsunami warning was called off less than two hours after the quake. With communications still down hours later and official information scarce, witness accounts of casualties began to surface on social media and through patchy phone calls.
Katie Greenwood, a Fiji-based regional head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said CNN World that the damage was widespread, including collapsed buildings in Port Vila and crippled infrastructure in provincial areas. “Red Cross volunteers are underway to help the affected communities,” she added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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