INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
deaths and that two reservoirs and a hospital had been damaged.State broadcaster VBTC showed footage of vehicles crushed under the debris of
collapsed buildings and boulders strewn across a highway
Drone footage showed landslips near a shipping terminal.Communications networks on the Pacific archipelago were down, New Zealand
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people had been affected by the earthquake
It said there were six unconfirmed deaths and damage to the two main water reservoirs.The structure of the hospital in Port Vila was
affected, with the operating theatre not functioning and triage tents set up outside to manage the influx of patients, it said in a
statement.Authorities were unable to communicate with the National Disaster Management Office until Tuesday evening, when Starlink satellite
services were provided, it said.Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project based in Vanuatu,
earlier told Reuters that police had said at least one person had been killed and injured people had been taken to hospital.Reuters was not
immediately able to confirm the casualty figures, with communications outages making it hard to reach Vanuatu authorities for
people scattering in panic in a garage and cars rocking on the ground.Footage posted on social media showed buckled windows and collapsed
concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the U.S., British, French and New Zealand embassies.A
All personnel who were in the U.S
communications outages across the country, the New Zealand statement added, while the Australian High Commission in Vanuatu said its
dissolved parliament last month.The U.S
Geological Survey said the quake was at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).Half a dozen aftershocks hit Vanuatu following the initial quake, USGS
Several were heavy enough to be felt in Port Vila, McGarry said.The U.S
Tsunami Warning System cancelled an initial tsunami warning for Vanuatu.Source: Reuters--Agencies
