Australian teams head to Vanuatu as buildings collapse, cars crushed, after huge quake

No Australians are among the 14 deaths in Vanuatu after a massive 7.3 magnitude earthquake flattened large parts of the capital, with Australian teams heading for the Pacific Island nation.

Australian medical teams and search and rescue experts are departing Australia for Vanuatu to help the Pacific island nation deal with the devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake which has claimed at least 14 lives after flattening many buildings across the capital Port Vila.

Survivors called out from beneath the rubble of one three-storey shop in the city as scores of rescuers worked through the night to find them, resident Michael Thompson said by satellite phone Wednesday.

“We got three people out that were trapped. Unfortunately, one of them did not make it,” he said.

About 80 people including police, medics, trained rescuers and volunteers were using excavators, jackhammers, grinders and concrete saws, “just everything we can get our hands on”.

When rescuers on the site went quiet, they could still hear three people within signalling they were alive on Wednesday morning, Thompson said.

“There’s tonnes and tonnes of rubble on top of them. And two rather significant concrete beams that have pancaked down,” he said. “Obviously they are lucky to be in a bit of a void.”

Widespread, shocking damage included vehicles being crushed under collapsed structures and the partial caving in of a multistorey building housing the high commissions of New Zealand and the United Kingdom and the US and French embassies.
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”.
No Australians are so far among the casualties in the Vanuatu earthquakes, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said

He said both Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong had been in contact with their Vanuatuan counterparts.

“We will continue to liaise with the Vanuatu government about what further assistance we can provide as this unfolds,” he said.

“We can confirm that there have been no Australians who have been a casualty in this.

Massive landslides near our international shipping terminal. A lot of digging out ahead. This is going to impact our ability to respond. pic.twitter.com/dpgyK8tcpf

— Dan McGarry (@VanuatuDan) December 17, 2024

“I think there are small scrapes and the like which are being handled.

“We are still in the process of contacting some of the locally engaged staff and so that remains the case that we are working to be in touch with them and obviously we’ll continue to be pursuing that but we can report that there aren’t any Australian casualties.”

As Vanuatu continues to be hit with a series of aftershocks, Ms Wong said from NATO headquarters in Brussels: “We have seen reports of awful damage and we have a request for assistance from Vanuatu so I have engaged with my counterpart and we are deploying assistance.’’

Ms Wong told the people of Vanuatu, a nation of 80 islands and home to about 330,000 ­people, that Australia “stands with you”.

She urged Australians in Vanuatu who are in need of assistance to contact the emergency consular team. The Red Cross said at least 14 people died and 200 were being treated for injuries in the capital’s main hospital, with the death toll expected to rise.

This is the dramatic moment a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu, damaging buildings, disrupting phone lines, and government websites. pic.twitter.com/FOT4u7nMsb

— DW News (@dwnews) December 17, 2024

The earthquake flattened large buildings, cracked walls and windows, knocked down bridges, and set off landslides in the low-lying archipelago.

Telecommunications networks were knocked out and airlines suspended flights.

Port Vila’s Bauerfield international airport would be closed for 72 hours to all commercial flights, clearing the way for aid flights, local news service VBTC reported Wednesday

Airports Vanuatu chief executive Jason Rakau said the runway sustained little damage and was operational, while terminal building repairs would be completed within 72 hours allowing commercial flights to resume.

Tuesday’s major earthquake was followed by another large 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu Wednesday morning.

Australian tourist Tessa Jones said: “I’d say we’ve had at least 20 aftershocks.”

Local resident Mr Thompson, who runs a zipline adventure business in Vanuatu, said he had seen at least three bodies in the city.

Shortly after the quake, he drove near the airport past a toppled four-storey block. Its ground floor had collapsed under the upper stories.

“When we slowed down with the windows down, we could hear screams coming from inside,” he said.

The quake crushed four large buildings in Port Vila, triggered a landslide that covered a bus, and demolished at least two bridges, Mr 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 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people could be affected by the worst impacts of the quake.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake caused massive damage. Picture: X.

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.

“Immediate response efforts are ongoing as humanitarian partners and authorities work to overcome access and communication challenges,” it said in a situation update.

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.

Landslips sent tonnes of earth and large rocks tumbling down a steep hill over the international shipping terminal, images verified by AFP showed.

The port buildings did not appear to be damaged.

Australian and other regional airlines including Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, and Fiji Airways diverted or suspended flights -- some citing reports of possible damage to the facilities and runway.

A car crushed following the earthquake.

Australian Jane Laycock said it was the worst of many big earthquakes she had experienced in her 37 years in Vanuatu. She was in her pool at her home overlooking the capital and the harbour when the earth shook. “Our swimming pool probably lost about one metre of water from the movement,” she told The Australian.

“We look out to the harbour and we saw movement in the sea of about a metre of height change over probably an hour.”

She said they saw dust rising from the building housing the embassies and high commissions.

“The second and third floor look like they collapsed on one corner,” she said. “We think the New Zealand high commission is in that section.”

Ms Laycock’s daughter later drove through town and reported a building had collapsed and several cars were crushed.

“She saw them removing bodies,” she said. “It’s a shocking thing to see. It’s a very small country and a very small city. I’ve been through several big earthquakes but this was by far the most terrifying and by far the most damaging, from what I can see.”

Australians with connections to Vanuatu estimate there would be at least 4000 Australians in Port Vila at any given time. Another Australian with extensive business interests in the country said he had spoken to a ministerial adviser who confirmed there had been fatalities.

“He said he was driving through town just near where a building (housing offices and shops) collapsed,” he said.

A severely damaged building housing the embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand. Picture: AFP

“He said there’s at least eight fatalities in that building and he said there’s people crushed in cars. The hospital is full and they’re triaging people in a new barracks.”

One video showed the collapsed building housing shops and offices. Witness Michael Thompson said a rescue team was “in there now trying to get some people out”. Mr Thompson added: “There’s definitely some people in there, hopefully still alive.”

Australia will send a RAAF C-17 to Port Vila with an urban search and rescue team from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, and a RAAF C-130 will take additional search and rescue personnel from Fire and Rescue NSW, Australian Federal Police, and a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade crisis response team.

A charter flight out of Darwin will also take an Australian Medical Assistance Team deployed through the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre.

The Australian high commission in Port Vila was evacuated during the earthquake. Speaking from London late on Tuesday (AEDT), Senator Wong said she had been told high commission staff were safe.

Senator Penny Wong at Stansted airport taking questions on the Vanuatu earthquake. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

We are closely monitoring the situation in Vanuatu following this afternoon’s devastating earthquake.

We stand ready to support Vanuatu, as the extent of the damage is assessed.

Vanuatu is family and we will always be there in times of need.

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) December 17, 2024

The disaster is expected to trigger a major Australian aid boost to the country, which will need international assistance to restore services and rebuild vital infrastructure. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said his government was “deeply concerned” about the significant earthquake.

Dan McGarry, a journalist in Port Vila, shared video of “massive landslides” at the international shipping terminal in the capital. He said it was an “exceptional earthquake” with “a great many walls down”. “It was a violent earthquake, more violent than I have ever seen in 21 years living in Vanuatu,” McGarry told the ABC.

“I saw a mass casualty triage being set up at the hospital. There is one building that I’ve seen for certain that’s collapsed in the middle of town – it’s pancaked down. There are cracks visible in numerous buildings around town, old and new. Everybody’s going to have to do a bit of a stocktake. There’s a lot of damage.”

The quake was detected about 30km west of Port Vila at 12.47pm and initially measured at a magnitude of 7.4 before being revised to 7.3 by the US Geological Survey. A tsunami alert was initially issued, but has since been lifted.

“The area where the Australia and Pacific plates meet is among the world’s most seismically active,” the USGS said. “In the century leading up to the December 17, 2024 earthquake, there were 24 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or larger within 250km of this event.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement it was “urgently seeking information from the Australian high commission in Port Vila to ascertain the impact of the earthquake on any Australians in Vanuatu and the local population”.

The earthquake has badly hit some communications in Vanuatu, including with government officials, and relatives and friends were frantically trying to connect with loved ones.

Four adults from Sydney who had been staying on Erakor Island were now sheltering with Ms Laycock, who generously opened her home to the strangers.

“They believe that island was totally awash,” Ms Laycock said.

Additional reporting: AFP

Australians in Vanuatu requiring consular assistance have been told to contact the Australian government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 (within Australia) or [phone] (from overseas)