7.3 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu, houses shaken to their foundations, goods destroyed, tsunami alert

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 was recorded on Tuesday off the coast of the South Pacific island state of Vanuatu. This information was given by the US Geological Survey. After recording earthquake tremors of such magnitude, a tsunami warning has also been issued in Vanuatu.

The earthquake occurred at 12:53 pm, 37 km away from the capital city of Port Vila. The US Geological Survey said that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km. The US Tsunami Warning System said that the risk of tsunami has increased after this earthquake. At present, there is no danger of tsunami in Australia due to this.

This earthquake caused massive destruction in the capital Port Vila and surrounding areas. Due to the earthquake, many buildings collapsed, vehicles got buried in the rubble, and the network came to a standstill. This natural disaster has put the country in a serious crisis.

Aftershocks also occurred after the earthquake.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at a depth of 57.1 km, about 30 km west of the capital Port Vila. This earthquake occurred in the afternoon. Not only this, an aftershock of 5.5 magnitude was also felt immediately after this earthquake. According to relief agencies, initial reports have confirmed the death of one person, but due to the breakdown of all communication services, the exact number of deaths has not been revealed.

Many people were trapped due to falling debris.

The earthquake razed several buildings in the capital to the ground and people were trapped as debris fell on vehicles. The earthquake also caused landslides near Port Vila's international shipping terminal, making it difficult to reach there. A crowd of injured people has gathered outside the nearest hospital, where doctors are working with limited resources to treat them.

USGS has issued a 'Yellow Pager' alert for the earthquake. This agency gives the possible figure of the country's economic loss. According to this, the earthquake is estimated to cause a loss of 1 to 10% of Vanuatu's GDP. A total of 73,000 people have been affected by this disaster, out of which 36,000 people are in the capital Port Vila itself.