Rescuers in Vanuatu searched on Wednesday for people trapped under rubble a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation’s capital Port Vila, killing 14 people and damaging commercial buildings, embassies, and a hospital.
More than 200 people have been injured, with rescue efforts focused on two buildings that collapsed, Vanuatu Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said in a video message.
Three people trapped in a collapsed building were communicating with rescuers, he said.
One woman who had been pulled from the rubble later died, Iavro said.
Power, water and communications remain disrupted, government and energy officials said. Triage tents have been set up outside Port Vila’s hospital to manage the influx of patients.
Ten buildings in Port Vila’s main town had major structural damage, the National Disaster Management Office said.
Two Chinese nationals had died in the earthquake, China’s Ambassador to Vanuatu Li Minggang told state media on Wednesday.
Of the 14 confirmed deaths, six people had died in landslides, four in the collapsed Billabong building and four at Vila Central Hospital, the National Disaster Management office said in a report.
Several aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.1, rattled Vanuatu overnight.
