A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook buildings on the main island of Vanuatu early Sunday but did not appear to cause any major damage, just days after a larger, deadlier earthquake struck the Pacific archipelago.
The country’s most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck on Tuesday, killing 12 people as concrete buildings collapsed and landslides occurred in the capital, Port Vila.
Sunday’s latest earthquake struck at a depth of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and was located about 30 kilometers west of the capital.
Unlike earlier earthquakes, no tsunami warning was issued when the quake struck at 2:30 a.m. (1530 GMT Saturday).
Port Vila businessman Michael Thompson told AFP the earthquake woke his family.
“It gave a little better shock and the windows shook a little bit, which could have caused noises in the houses as well,” he said.
“But you know, there’s really no movement other than a few inches in any direction. Whereas in the main earthquake, there would have been a very rapid and sudden movement of a meter and a half in the property.
“I would describe it as one of the bigger shocks, and so far we’ve had a few of those shocks.”
Thompson said there was no sign of further damage in their vicinity.
Mobile networks remained down since the beginning of the week, making external contact with Vanuatu difficult.
In addition to disrupting communications, the first earthquake damaged water supplies and resulted in a halt to operations at the capital’s main shipping port.
The South Pacific nation had earlier declared a seven-day state of emergency and nighttime curfew after the quake, and also announced Saturday it would lift a suspension on commercial flights in an effort to restart its vital tourism industry.
Rescue workers said Friday they had expanded the search for trapped survivors to “several collapse sites” beyond the capital.
still searching
Australia and New Zealand this week sent more than 100 personnel with rescue gear, dogs and aid supplies to help search for stranded survivors and make emergency repairs.
“There are a number of large collapse sites where buildings have been completely leveled,” Australian rescue leader Douglas May said in a video update on Friday.
“Now we’re starting to spread out to see if there are more people trapped and if there’s more damage. And we’ve found several collapse sites to the east and west of the city.”
The latest UN report, citing Vanuatu disaster management officials, said more than 1,000 people were displaced as a result of the first earthquake – many now in other homes or in evacuation centres.
Thompson said power was restored to his home Saturday, but many others were still waiting.
“We’re hearing that while many major businesses are still closed, supermarkets are trying to reopen,” he said.
“So this is very different from what has happened with disasters here in the past.
“Cyclones destroy everything outside, while earthquakes actually destroy a lot of infrastructure inside buildings.”
Vanuatu, an archipelago of about 320,000 inhabitants, lies in the Pacific’s earthquake-prone Ring of Fire.
According to the Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council, tourism accounts for about a third of the country’s economy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
