Over 200 people were injured in the South Pacific island’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake, which also seriously damaged the water supply and infrastructure of the city, Port Vila.
A day after reservoirs were devastated by a powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake that devastated the South Pacific island nation, leaving at least 14 dead and hundreds injured—with the death toll certain to rise—Vanuatu’s capital was without water on Wednesday.
Dozens of people labored in the heat and dust with no water to find individuals calling for assistance inside during the frantic rescue operations that started at the scene of the destroyed buildings after the earthquake struck early Tuesday afternoon and continued for thirty hours.
Others were still trapped, some were discovered dead, and a few more survivors were pulled from the wreckage of downtown buildings in Port Vila, the largest city in the nation.
According to the operator, internet service had not been restored due to damage to the submarine cable that supplied it.
Located 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the capital of Vanuatu, a group of 80 islands with a population of roughly 330,000, the earthquake struck at a depth of 57 kilometers (35 miles).
Less than two hours after the earthquake, a tsunami warning was canceled, but the nation was still being shaken by scores of powerful aftershocks.
According to a government notice, four of the casualties were reported dead at the main hospital, six in a landslide, and four in a collapsed structure; however, the number had not been updated for nearly 15 hours. Vila Central Hospital treated more than 200 injured patients.
Katie Greenwood, the Asia-Pacific president of the International Federation of Red Cross, stated, “We have anecdotal information coming from people at the search and rescue site that are fairly confident that unfortunately those numbers will rise.”
Vila Central Hospital, the capital’s primary medical facility, suffered significant damage, forcing patients to relocate to a military base.
Port Vila has no water.
The main concern of assistance organizations was the scarcity of water, even if power was down in large areas of Port Vila. According to the National Disaster Management Office, two sizable reservoirs that supplied water to the city were completely destroyed.
According to a local named Milroy Cainton, “people are really worried about water, not electricity.”
According to Eric Durpaire, Chief of the Vanuatu Field Office, UNICEF was noticing an increase in diarrheal illnesses among children, which could indicate that they had started consuming contaminated water.
A few victims are still buried beneath the debris.
When the earthquake struck, at least ten buildings suffered significant damage, several of them in a crowded downtown area where people were shopping for lunch. According to Cainton, a resident, rescuers had been obliged to focus their efforts on areas where they thought people could be saved because of the unknown number of people trapped within.
Damage to embassies
A portion of the building cleaved off and flattened the first floor of a building that housed several diplomatic missions in Port Vila, including those of the United States, Britain, France, and New Zealand. Walls collapsed and windows buckled.
Every flight was grounded.
In a nation that depends on tourism and agricultural exports, damage to the seaport and airport is likely to impede relief operations and economic recovery.
Commercial flights were prohibited from using the airport for a further 72 hours starting on Wednesday.
However, French engineers who came by helicopter determined that the runway was suitable for humanitarian flights, and military aircraft from Australia and New Zealand were scheduled to start arriving on Wednesday evening. They transport relief supplies, as well as search and rescue personnel and equipment.
Vanuatu-based journalist Dan McGarry reported a “massive landslide” at the international shipping terminal. The major wharf was closed, according to the administration.
Many towns have been cut off by landslides, and according to Red Cross spokesperson Greenwood, communication has not yet been established with certain coastal areas close to the earthquake’s center.
Buildings in Vanuatu are designed to withstand earthquake damage since the country is located on a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate slips beneath the Pacific Plate. As a result, earthquakes larger than magnitude 6 are common.
