By Deborah Nnamdi
A powerful earthquake has hit the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, smashing buildings in the capital, Port Vila, including one used by foreign embassies.
Witnesses reported that dead bodies were lying in the city.
The 7.3 magnitude quake struck at a depth of 57 kilometers (35 miles), some 30 kilometers off the coast of Efate, Vanuatu’s main island, at 12:47 pm (01:47 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey.
A 5.5-magnitude aftershock struck minutes later, followed by a string of lesser tremors, shaking the low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that lies in the quake-prone Pacific Rim of Fire.
The ground floor of a four-story concrete block in Port Vila used by US, French, British, Australian, and New Zealand diplomatic missions was flattened.
Source: AFP
