Sydney, Dec 17 A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck South Pacific Ocean nation Vanuatu's capital of Port Vila on Tuesday, causing 'considerable damage' to some buildings, including a shared diplomatic mission.
The quake hit 30 km west of Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, at 12:47 local time, with a depth of 43 km, the US Geological Survey said.
At least one person died and a mass casualty triage was set up at a hospital in Port Vila after the earthquake struck Vanuatu, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Information about the extent of the damage was hampered by disrupted communications, with phone lines and government websites down, but reports of widespread destruction began to emerge on social media in the hours after the quake, the Guardian Australia reported.
A Red Cross spokesperson in Fiji said workers on the ground were reporting significant damage, the Guardian Australia said. Footage shared by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation showed crowds outside the Vila Central Hospital appearing to lift injured people onto stretchers.
The Guardian Australia quoted Dan McGarry, a journalist based in Port Vila, as saying he saw three people on gurneys "in obvious distress," outside a hospital.
"It was the most violent earthquake I've experienced in my 21 years living in Vanuatu and in the Pacific Islands," McGarry said, "I've seen a lot of large earthquakes, never one like this."
The embassy building for Britain, the United States, France and New Zealand was damaged in the earthquake, the ABC reported.
New Zealand's High Commission building, which is co-located with the US, French and British missions, had "sustained significant damage," a New Zealand foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
Many large buildings collapsed in Port Vila, electricity was out and water was cut in most of the capital, Care Australia, a non-profit humanitarian agency, said in a statement.
Australian High Commission in Port Vila was evacuated during the earthquake on Tuesday, the ABC said.
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 after the quake struck Vanuatu.
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