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| This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article). –Article last amended: Dec 22 at 22:22:02 UTC (history) |
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
On Tuesday, Vanuatu was struck by a nocturnal 7.3-magnitude earthquake.
Hundreds were injured, with many casualties in the earthquake involving a cluster of buildings in the country’s capital city of Port Vila.
Rescue efforts were underway. The US, Australia and New Zealand have offered humanitarian aid to Vanuatu.[Source]
The Hill reported that emergency response teams found deceased bodies “crushed” in the debris. [Source]
A seven-day state of emergency was issued in response to the earthquake.
Vanuatu has a population of approximately 330,000,[Source] and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that as many as 166,000 people could have potentially been affected by the earthquake.
The U.S. Embassy of Port Vila said there were landslides occurring in the city, and advised residents to abstain from entering buildings due to the possibility of collapse from structural failure.
The recently-built embassy in the city was heavily damaged in the earthquake, and was closed “until further notice.”[Source]
