In Vanuatu, the earthquake left at least fourteen dead and caused significant damage

Rescuers are searching for survivors after the powerful earthquake that struck Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, on December 17, 2024. STR / AFP Buildings destroyed or gutted, and a toll that continues to rise. While emergency services continue their search in the rubble on Wednesday, December 18, Vanuatu has not yet measured the extent of the scars caused by the 7.3 magnitude earthquake which struck the main island of this island on Tuesday. Pacific archipelago, where its capital, Port Vila, is located. According to a report obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from the National Disaster Management Office, fourteen people died: four who were hospitalized in the capital, six killed in a landslide and four in a building collapsed, according to this press release dated Tuesday evening. Among the dead were two Chinese nationals, Beijing’s ambassador to Vanuatu reported on Chinese television. More than 200 people received treatment in hospital, according to the government report. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs previously reported at least six deaths and estimated that 116,000 people could be affected by the consequences of the earthquake. Read also | Vanuatu hit by 7.3 magnitude earthquake; “numerous victims in the country”, according to the French ambassador Read later The earthquake caused “considerable structural damage” in at least ten buildings including a hospital, and also damaged three bridges and two power lines. Two important water reserves supplying Port-Vila, “totally destroyed”, will require reconstruction, according to the same report. The main port of Port Vila is closed “due to a major landslide”. The airport serving Port Vila is “not operational”, but nevertheless allows the arrival of humanitarian aid flights, the Vanuatu government said. The head of the Red Cross in the Pacific, Katie Greenwood, also mentioned on X “a lot of damage to homes”. The French embassy “destroyed” Michael Thompson, a resident contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) using a satellite phone due to still “intermittent” access to the mobile network and Internet in the country according to Port- Vila, reported that three people were pulled out from under the rubble of a destroyed three-story business. “Unfortunately, one of them did not survive,” he testified. The French embassy in Vanuatu was “destroyed” but the diplomatic staff are “safe and sound”, announced, for his part, the French ambassador in a message posted on X. The United States embassy, ​​which was located in the same building, “has suffered considerable damage and is closed until further notice”, said the American diplomatic mission in Papua New Guinea on the same network, specifying that all staff were also “healthy and except “. Le Monde Mémorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover France stands “alongside the Vanuatu authorities” and is prepared “to contribute to relief operations” if they request it, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday. Australia, Vanuatu’s largest neighbor, is deploying doctors and rescue teams by military planes on Wednesday, Defense Minister Richard Marles announced to the public channel ABC. New Zealand, for its part, took off a surveillance plane to assess the damage, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement, proposing to send troops and supplies “once Port Vila airport will have reopened.” Many flights canceled or diverted The epicenter of the earthquake detected Tuesday at 12:47 p.m. local time (2:47 a.m. in Paris) was recorded at a depth of 43 kilometers at sea, thirty kilometers west of Port Vila, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). A 5.5 magnitude aftershock occurred a few minutes later, followed by a series of weaker tremors. The earthquake led the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) to issue a tsunami alert, which has since been lifted. “Tsunami waves were observed,” the organization said in a bulletin, after initially fearing the arrival of waves up to one meter high along certain coasts of Vanuatu. According to the online tracking site Flightradar, no more flights landed in Port Vila after the disaster. Australian airlines in the Pacific region such as Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Airways and Fiji Airways have canceled or diverted flights. Earthquakes are common in Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that straddles the Pacific Seismic Ring of Fire, an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Basin . Vanuatu is ranked among the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquakes, storm damage, floods and tsunamis, according to the annual Global Risks Report. Read also (2022): Article reserved for our subscribers Threatened by global warming, Vanuatu wants to take international legal action to push governments to act Read later Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



Source link