Magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Vanuatu damages US embassy

WELLINGTON — An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck Vanuatu's capital Port Vila on Tuesday (Dec 17), 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.

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.

New Zealand's High Commission building, which is co-located with the US, French and British missions, had "sustained significant damage," a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

There were communications outages across the country, the New Zealand statement added, while the Australian High Commission in Vanuatu said its communication systems had also been affected.

Police reported at least one person had been killed and injured people had been taken to hospital, according to Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project based in Vanuatu, in a post on X.

"I saw three people seriously injured on gurneys waiting treatment," he said.

"There is substantial damage around town. We've got a building that has pancaked," McGarry told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview.

The road connecting Port Vila to its main port was blocked by landslides, he added.

Reuters was not able to immediately able to confirm the casualty figures, with authorities in Vanuatu not reachable for comment.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was at a depth of 10km.

The US Tsunami Warning System cancelled an initial tsunami warning for Vanuatu.

Authorities in the US, Australia and New Zealand said there was no tsunami threat to their territories.

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