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 local time (0147 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.
Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross in the Pacific, wrote on X that Vanuatu's government had reported 14 confirmed fatalities and 200 injured people being treated at the capital's main hospital.
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.
“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 on social media.
As well as destroying the ground floor of the diplomatic building, the quake also knocked down at least two bridges and toppled other buildings, Thompson said.
The bottom floor of the embassy block “no longer exists”, he said. “It is just completely flat. The top three floors are still holding but they have dropped.”
The hospital in Port Vila had been damaged, with tents set up outside for the influx of patients, it said, adding there was also significant disruption to telecommunications and the two main water reservoirs had been damaged.
Some people injured in the quake were driven in flat-bed trucks to a Port Vila hospital where others lay in stretchers outside or sat on plastic chairs, their arms and heads wrapped in bandages, public television VBTC images showed.
The port buildings did not appear to be damaged.
The quake cut off most mobile networks on the Pacific island, Thompson said.
“They’re just cracking on with a rescue operation. The support we need from overseas is medical evacuation and skilled rescue, kind of people that can operate in earthquakes,“ he said.
The streets of the city were strewn with broken glass and other debris from cracked buildings.
“We are waiting for everyone to get online to know how devastating and traumatic this will be,“ Nand told AFP.
Australia stands ready to help, said Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Vanuatu is ranked as one of the countries most susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes, storm damage, flooding and tsunamis, according to the annual World Risk Report.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Major quake crushes buildings in Vanuatu capital, 14 feared dead )
Also on site :