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Nature and EnvironmentVanuatu

Vanuatu hit by new earthquake, disrupting flight resumption

December 22, 2024

Commercial flights had been set to resume on Sunday before a new earthquake struck the island nation. Aid efforts remained strained because of the difficulty accessing the Pacific island.

https://p.dw.com/p/4oTVm
A handout photo taken on December 21, 2024 and received from the Australian Department Foreign Affairs and Trade shows Australian Defence Force personnel assisting Australians off a C-130J Hercules at Brisbane Airport following an earthquake which struck Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Australia had been struggling to bring holidaymakers stranded by the earlier quake home even prior to Sunday's smaller tremorImage: AFP

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu on Sunday morning, hours before a suspension on commercial flights to the island nation was to be lifted.

While Sunday's early-morning earthquake rattled buildings, it did not seem to have caused as much damage as the deadly 7.3 magnitude tremor that had struck on Tuesday.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at an estimated depth of around 40 kilometers (roughly 25 miles), with its epicenter some 30 kilometers west of the capital Port Vila. It did not trigger any tsunami alerts.

Earlier on Saturday, an announcement had been made that commercial flights were meant to resume on Sunday to restart the island's vital tourism industry and to try to allow stranded travelers the chance to get home in time for Christmas.

The South Pacific nation declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night curfew following the first quake that remains in place. 

Earthquake causes major damage to capital of Vanuatu

King Charles offers words of condolence after deadly strike

Earlier on Saturday evening, before news of the second earthquake emerged, the United Kingdom's King Charles wrote of his sadness at the loss of the 12 lives from Tuesday's quake.

"My wife and I have been deeply saddened to learn of the magnitude of the earthquake... the loss of life and property which this devastating natural disaster has left in its wake," he said.

"I am aware, from my visit to Vanuatu and Port Vila in 2018, of the extraordinary spirit of ni-Vanuatu, which has been called upon too often in recent years with repeated cyclones and now, with this terrible earthquake." 

Aid efforts remain a challenge

Tuesday's tremor struck the nation's most populous island, Efate, which also toppled concrete buildings and set off landslides in and around the capital of Port Vila.

Vanuatu disaster management officials said 210 injuries had been registered and 1,698 people have been temporarily displaced.

The site of a collapsed building with Australian rescue workers standing in the back background
Many buildings collapsed following the first earthquake that struck on TuesdayImage: AFP

With mobile networks still not having returned, contact with the outside has been challenging and complicated aid efforts.

Along with disrupting communications, the first quake on Tuesday damaged water supplies and halted operations at the capital's main shipping port.

Vanuatu is a South Pacific ocean nation made up of a total of around 80 islands, with a population of around 335,000 people, roughly 1,750 kilometers east of Australia.

km/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)