An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck Tuesday off the coast of the Pacific island state of Vanuatu, the US Geological Survey said, prompting a warning of possible tsunami waves. The tremor was at a depth of 43 kilometres, said USGS.
US Embassy in Vanuatu Damaged by Powerful Earthquake
Initial reports indicated severe damage to infrastructure in the country after a powerful quake hit the Pacific island state. Videos shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) show that part of the US Embassy building in Vanuatu collapsed on Tuesday. Visuals from shops and restaurants also emerged, showing damage to the properties.
The USGS also issued a possible Tsunami warning after the huge quake off the coast of the Pacific island. Tsunami waves of less than 30 centimetres (one foot) above the tidal level were predicted for Pacific island nations, including Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Due to timorous, government websites of Vanuatu were offline.
No Tsunami warning was issued in Australia from the earthquake of magnitude 7.5 near the Vanuatu Islands, said the Australia Bureau of Meteorology.