Caption: US Embassy in ruins
A powerful earthquake hit the Pacific nation of Vanuatu on Tuesday, smashing buildings in the capital Port Vila including one used by foreign embassies, with a witness telling AFP of bodies lying in the city.
The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 57 kilometres (35 miles), some 30 kilometres off the coast of Efate, Vanuatu’s main island, at 12:47 pm (0147 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.
A 5.5-magnitude aftershock struck minutes later, followed by a string of lesser tremors — shaking the low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that lies in the quake-prone Pacific Rim of Fire.
The ground floor of a four-storey concrete block in Port Vila — used by US, French, British, Australian and New Zealand diplomatic missions — was flattened, AFP photos showed.
US and French embassy staff are safe, the two countries said. The United States closed its embassy until further notice. France said its mission was “destroyed”.
“There’s people in the buildings in town. There were bodies there when we walked past,” resident Michael Thompson told AFP by satellite phone after posting images of the destruction
/AFP
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