Vanuatu earthquake: US embassy damaged 7.3 earthquake in Pacific island nation

CNN
—

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu on Tuesday, damaging several buildings, including the US embassy in the capital Port Vila.

The earthquake, about 57.1 kilometers (35.5 miles) deep, shook the Pacific island nation on Tuesday shortly after noon local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The 7.3 earthquake was downgraded slightly from its original magnitude reported by the USGS at the time of the first observation.

Several social media videos geolocated by CNN show damage to the building that houses the US embassy. A section of the building’s ground floor appears to have partially collapsed, with debris strewn around the embassy’s crest and several windows broken.

CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.

Vanuatu is a Pacific nation spread across a group of 80 islands that is home to around 330,000 people.

Katie Greenwood, a Fiji-based regional director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said there were “reports of damage in the capital.”

“Trained Red Cross volunteers are on the ground and ready to assist affected communities with pre-positioned relief items,” She wrote on X.

The US Geological Survey issues damage forecasts, known as pagers, for major earthquakes.

The current earthquake triggered yellow pagers — or a level 2 on a scale of 4 — for both the estimated economic damage and fatalities, the USGS said, adding previous yellow alerts “have required a response at the local or regional level.”

“Some loss and damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized,” the USGS warned, adding “estimated economic losses are 1-10% GDP for Vanuatu.”

In total, 73,000 people experienced severe shaking. Of those who experienced severe shaking, 36,000 people were in Port-Vila, Vanuatu’s capital.

Vanuatu’s government websites were offline in the wake of the earthquake, and phone numbers for police and other government agencies were not connected, the Associated Press reported. Social media channels for the country’s geohazards agency and the prime minister’s office have not been updated.

The initial tsunami warnings were later cancelled.

“There is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake,” the National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. But it warned, “minor sea level fluctuations may occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake during the next few hours.”

The US only opened its Vanuatu embassy in July this year, part of a recent ramping up of its diplomatic presence in the Pacific as it competes with China for influence in the strategically vital region.

“The opening of the embassy builds on our efforts to provide more diplomatic presence throughout the region and to further engage with our Pacific neighbors,” the State Department said at the time.

Before Vanuatu, the United States opened embassies in two other island nations, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.