Rescuers in Vanuatu searched on Wednesday for people trapped under rubble a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation’s capital Port Vila, killing 14 people and damaging commercial buildings, embassies and a hospital.
More than 200 people have been injured, with rescue efforts focused on two buildings that collapsed, Vanuatu Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said in a video message.
Three people caught in a collapsed building were communicating with police, he said.
“We believe there are more stuck inside,” Iavro said.
Footage posted on social media showed vehicles crushed under the debris, boulders strewn across a highway and landslides near Port Vila’s international shipping terminal. National broadcaster VBTC showed people queuing for fuel and essentials.
Australian Michael Thompson, who runs a zip line adventure business in Vanuatu, said he had helped dig people out of the rubble overnight.
“Three people have been removed alive with one in a very serious condition … incredible displays of bravery with people entering confined spaces to conduct rescues,” Thompson said in a post on Facebook.
Power, water and communications remain disrupted, government and energy officials said. Triage tents have been set up outside Port Vila’s hospital to manage the influx of patients.
Ten buildings in Port Vila’s main town had major structural damage, the National Disaster Management Office said.
Basil Leodoro, an emergency doctor in Vanuatu with health emergency firm Respond Global, said in a social media post that two buildings – Billabong House and a Chinese store – had collapsed, with rescuers trying to save people.
Concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the U.S., British, French and New Zealand embassies, collapsed in the powerful quake.
AFTERSHOCKS OVERNIGHT
Several aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.1, rattled Vanuatu overnight.
“Even just two minutes ago, we had another shock … probably wouldn’t even count how many. Loads and loads of aftershocks throughout the night,” Australian Caroline Bird, who manages a resort in Port Vila, told ABC News on Wednesday.
Caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said a national disaster committee has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew for seven days in the worst-affected areas. International assistance has been sought.
Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said two military planes would fly to Vanuatu on Wednesday morning with a medical assistance team, and a search and rescue team.
“This is a very significant incident and we hold anxiety about how it will unfold,” he told ABC Radio.
Port Vila’s international airport would be closed to commercial airlines for 72 hours, to allow medical and emergency aircraft to land, Airports Vanuatu CEO Jason Rakau told VBTC.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people, around one-third of the country’s population, had been affected by the earthquake.
(Reuters)