Fourteen people are reportedly dead after a massive earthquake struck near Vanuatu yesterday afternoon.
The 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which struck at a depth of 57km, occurred 30km to the west of the capital Port Vila at 2.47pm yesterday, according to the US Geological Survey. The region was hit by a 5.5 magnitude aftershock six minutes later.
Two Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) staff were earlier unaccounted for after the quake – but at about 11am, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said those two people had been found and spoken to.
"This means that all New Zealand Government staff in Vanuatu are safe and accounted for," he said.
"Our focus today is on getting needed assistance to Vanuatu as soon as we're able."
Katie Greenwood, the Fiji-based head of the Asia-Pacific regional office for the Red Cross, provided the latest casualty figures overnight.
"Vanuatu Government is reporting 14 confirmed fatalities and 200 treated for injuries at main hospital in Port Vila," she said on X.
MFAT said this morning: "There are 58 New Zealanders registered as being in Vanuatu, though we expect there will be more who are not registered. At this stage we are not aware of New Zealanders killed or injured.
The ministry has received a "steady" number of calls about Kiwis in Vanuatu and is working to provide consular help, the spokesperson added.
Aftershocks have rattled the Pacific island nation since the initial quake.
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu with assistance, Peters said.
"Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," he said. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be doing all we can to help.
"A New Zealand military surveillance plane is due to fly above Vanuatu this morning, to help assess the damage caused by the earthquake.
"We are also offering to send an urban search and rescue team and relief supplies to Vanuatu later today, once the airport in Port Vila has re-opened. New Zealand emergency medical, civil defence, consular and humanitarian officials will also deploy as part of this operation."
At about 11.15am this morning, an Air Force plane was being loaded at RNZAF Base Auckland in Whenuapai.
But Hercules' departure was delayed to between 4pm and 5pm today, as staff waited for equipment to arrive, an NZDF spokesperson said.
Communications are still badly affected by the quake, Peters added.
"It is going to take some time to work through with Vanuatu what assistance it needs in the days ahead.
"We will continue to assess how best to assist New Zealanders in Vanuatu, who are encouraged to follow guidance provided by local authorities."
'Aftershocks can happen' - SafeTravel
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday: "My thoughts and those of the New Zealand Government are with the people of Vanuatu who have today suffered a significant earthquake.
"We are monitoring the developing situation closely and stand ready to help."
Vanuatu government websites were offline in the aftermath of the quake.
Port Vila-based journalist Dan McGarry said on X yesterday that the initial earthquake was "violent" and lasted around 30 seconds.
The 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which struck at a depth of 57km, occurred 30km to the west of the capital Port Vila at 2.47pm, according to the US Geological Survey. (Source: 1News)
"New Zealanders in Vanuatu are advised to follow the advice of local authorities at all times," SafeTravel said. "Aftershocks can happen after large earthquakes.
"We are aware that there are communication outages in Vanuatu at present. This may make it difficult for you to contact your whānau/friends in Vanuatu until communication lines are reestablished."
Any Kiwis in Vanuatu requiring urgent consular assistance were asked to call +64 99 20 20 20.
Kiwis in Vanuatu were urged to follow the advice of local authorities and to move to higher ground if they feel long or strong tremors.
Anyone in the Pacific island nation who wasn't already registered with SafeTravel was urged to do so.
"Please keep your family and friends in New Zealand informed of your safety and wellbeing when you are able to, and pass this message on to any New Zealanders who may not be registered on SafeTravel."
'Probably the scariest thing in my life' - resident
Glen Craig said there was no warning before the shaking began. (Source: Breakfast)
Glen Craig from the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council spoke to Breakfast this morning from the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office.
"There's a hardworking team up here," he said. "We're just running on generators at the moment and Starlink, thankfully we have that."
The quake was "awful", he said.
"We get a lot of earthquakes over here, we're fairly prone to them and we're used to them — but this gave no warning," Craig added.
"I was in the largest building having lunch with my wife and about two seconds in, it just hit, so we managed to get as far as the door before the real shakes started and then it pretty much threw us downstairs, and we evacuate as much as we could.
"It was probably about 30 seconds and it was probably the scariest thing in my life."
He's been through cyclones and tsunami warnings before. This quake was like standing up on a roller coaster, he said.
"It was very intense, we were lucky it didn't go longer because it was short but it was just very, very aggressive.
"Obviously there was a lot of panic and everyone was trying to get outside, especially those people in tall buildings."
"A lot of screaming. It was not good," Craig said.
Aftershocks continued through the night, he added.
"It's a once-in-a-generation type event and we're doing the best we can.
"Unfortunately, it will be a mass casualty event because we don't know how many people are in these buildings that you can't access."
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