A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu, causing widespread damage and unconfirmed reports of casualties. Communication outages hampered official information flow, but social media and witness accounts suggested significant destruction.
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu on Tuesday, causing widespread destruction in the South Pacific island nation. The quake, which occurred at a depth of 57 kilometers (35 miles) and was centered 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Port Vila, the largest city in Vanuatu , was followed by a magnitude 5.5 aftershock. A tsunami warning was called off less than two hours after the quake. Communications were down hours later and official information was scarce.
Witness accounts of casualties began to surface on social media and through patchy phone calls. Residents were urged to stay away from coastlines for at least 24 hours. No confirmed reports of damage or casualties were provided but accounts detailing widespread destruction filtered out on social media and in interviews. Dan McGarry, a journalist based in Port Vila, told The Associated Press he heard of one death in the quake from a police officer outside Vila Central Hospital. McGarry saw three people on gurneys 'in obvious distress', he said. Doctors were working 'as fast as they could' at a triage center outside the emergency ward, he added. But the nation is not equipped for a mass casualty event, McGarry said.
EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI VANUATU DESTRUCTION CASUALTIES
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