State of emergency in Vanuatu after a strong earthquake and a new cyclone

March 3, 2023

Vanuatu was in a state of emergency on Friday, hit simultaneously by a new cyclone and a magnitude 6.5 earthquake off this Pacific island state of 320,000 inhabitants.

The earthquake occurred at 6:04 p.m. GMT on Thursday, ten kilometers deep under the sea, off the large island of Espiritu Santo and 82 kilometers southwest of the village of Port-Olry, according to the American Institute. of geophysics (USGS).

It was followed by an aftershock of magnitude 5.4, according to the same source.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said in a statement that there was no tsunami warning after the first tremor.

But Vanuatu is also swept by Cyclone Kevin, which prompted its authorities to declare a state of emergency, government spokesman Joe Harry Karu told AFP.

Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau called on local authorities to “help communities clean up and prevent the spread of disease”, saying a state of natural disaster could be declared in severely affected areas.

No casualties have been reported so far, Pacific Red Cross spokesman Soneel Ram told AFP, but hundreds of people remain gathered in evacuation centers in the capital. , Port Vila, according to the police.

When the quake hit Vanuatu on Friday, residents were holed up in their homes as the cyclone’s strong winds ripped roofs off buildings and uprooted trees.

Two days earlier, Cyclone Judy had already swept through Vanuatu with winds reaching 200 km/h. Torrential rains flooded the roads of the island, where electricity and communications are still partly cut off.

Dickinson Tevi, secretary general of the Vanuatu Red Cross, warned of possible major damage.

“People on (Espiritu) Santo felt the earthquake, but couldn’t come out to assess the damage due to high winds,” Tevi told AFP from the capital Port Vila.

“They told me they hadn’t slept well because the earthquake happened when they were already awake by the cyclone.”

He said parts of Port Vila have been without power for two days.

A magnitude 7 quake was detected off Vanuatu in early January, according to the USGS, this time triggering a tsunami warning for the region.

Vanuatu, which is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The island is ranked among the countries most prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms, floods and tsunamis, according to the annual Global Risk Report.