Vanuatu rocked by major earthquake

At least one person was killed after a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off Vanuatu’s coast on Tuesday, causing damage in the capital, Port Vila, leaving at least one dead.

The jolt was followed by a magnitude 5.5 aftershock near the same location.

Michael Thompson, a resident, told AFP that the ground floor of a building housing the US, French and other embassies had been crushed under higher floors.

“That no longer exists. It is just completely flat. The top three floors are still holding but they have dropped,” Thompson said. “If there was anyone in there at the time, then they’re gone.”

Both the US and New Zealand confirmed extensive damage to their missions.

“There’s people in the buildings in town. There were bodies there when we walked past,” one resident told the AFP news agency.

Tsunami warning lifted

Footage posted online showed a building collapsed onto cars, and landslides blocking roads.

A tsunami warning was lifted two hours after the quake, while Red Cross teams are on standby to assist affected communities.

Waves of less than 30 centimeters (one foot) above the tidal level were predicted for other Pacific island nations including Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Vanuatu is located in the Southern Pacific and comprises of 80 islands with a population of about 330,000.