Vanuatu earthquake death toll rises to 14 as rescuers search for survivors

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON - People remained trapped in a collapsed building in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on Dec 18, a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation, killing 14 people including two Chinese nationals.

Three people were communicating with rescue teams from beneath the rubble of one building, while two survivors had been pulled from the ruins of another, Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said.

“We believe there are more stuck inside,” Mr Iavro said in a video message.

As aftershocks continued to rattle the island nation of 330,000 people, 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.

There were 14 confirmed deaths, including four in one collapsed building, the National Disaster Management office said in a report.

More than 200 people were injured, police said, and triage tents were set up outside Port Vila’s hospital to manage the influx of patients.

Unicef Chief of Field Office in Vanuatu Eric Durpaire said water contamination was a major concern.

“We already saw this morning an increase of children with diarrhea cases, meaning they have started to drink contaminated water because the water supply has been broken,” he told Reuters in an interview.

China’s ambassador confirmed two Chinese nationals were among the dead.

Vanuatu businessman Milroy Cainton said he saw rescuers recover the Chinese citizens’ bodies from the Wong Store commercial building, and he feared more were dead inside.

“The Wong building is piles and piles of concrete – that is a four-storey building,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

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,” Mr Iavro said.

Footage posted on social media showed vehicles crushed under the debris, boulders strewn across a highway and landslips near Port Vila’s international shipping terminal.

Concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the US, British, French and New Zealand embassies, also collapsed but there were no reported casualties.

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 Dec 18.

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.

The United States Agency for International Development said it was sending a team to Vanuatu, where it keeps relief supplies pre-positioned in Port Vila.

Australia’s government said a 64-person disaster response with two dogs to undertake urban search and rescue operations, as well as Australian Federal Police, would arrive on Dec 18.

France’s ambassador to Vanuatu, Mr Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer, said a French military helicopter had arrived from New Caledonia with satellite communications and military engineers.

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.

The tropical island nation, located on the seismically active ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, is ranked among the world’s most at-risk countries for natural disasters and extreme weather events. REUTERS