The Prague Post - Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors

EUR -
AED 4.302915
AFN 80.572435
ALL 98.000265
AMD 449.648319
ANG 2.096558
AOA 1074.273406
ARS 1469.644988
AUD 1.793436
AWG 2.108715
AZN 1.9913
BAM 1.957803
BBD 2.36522
BDT 142.796096
BGN 1.956302
BHD 0.441698
BIF 3490.270937
BMD 1.171509
BND 1.500635
BOB 8.094281
BRL 6.405924
BSD 1.171699
BTN 100.336656
BWP 15.651013
BYN 3.833622
BYR 22961.56825
BZD 2.353007
CAD 1.604527
CDF 3380.974043
CHF 0.931697
CLF 0.028871
CLP 1107.754746
CNY 8.404462
CNH 8.417184
COP 4734.077904
CRC 590.804459
CUC 1.171509
CUP 31.044977
CVE 110.377929
CZK 24.655585
DJF 208.603425
DKK 7.461502
DOP 70.241865
DZD 152.03724
EGP 58.14256
ERN 17.572629
ETB 162.535192
FJD 2.633258
FKP 0.863129
GBP 0.861961
GEL 3.174728
GGP 0.863129
GHS 12.212495
GIP 0.863129
GMD 83.759866
GNF 10165.400341
GTQ 9.003211
GYD 244.970632
HKD 9.196272
HNL 30.631339
HRK 7.533738
HTG 153.747301
HUF 399.957134
IDR 19035.608683
ILS 3.892987
IMP 0.863129
INR 100.414334
IQD 1534.570037
IRR 49349.799251
ISK 143.404526
JEP 0.863129
JMD 187.26159
JOD 0.830597
JPY 171.645918
KES 151.375752
KGS 102.448569
KHR 4703.812526
KMF 492.617262
KPW 1054.331969
KRW 1610.332215
KWD 0.357732
KYD 0.976199
KZT 607.491532
LAK 25239.82316
LBP 104959.585385
LKR 352.17031
LRD 234.870299
LSL 20.880163
LTL 3.45916
LVL 0.708634
LYD 6.335482
MAD 10.550194
MDL 19.855314
MGA 5185.305147
MKD 61.524663
MMK 2459.590925
MNT 4204.027859
MOP 9.471791
MRU 46.669748
MUR 53.057721
MVR 18.040263
MWK 2031.278225
MXN 21.752384
MYR 4.979492
MZN 74.92988
NAD 20.880163
NGN 1793.4034
NIO 43.1041
NOK 11.82498
NPR 160.538249
NZD 1.954973
OMR 0.450453
PAB 1.171398
PEN 4.158555
PGK 4.914028
PHP 66.217168
PKR 333.123523
PLN 4.244296
PYG 9079.289127
QAR 4.27137
RON 5.075792
RSD 117.183661
RUB 91.464322
RWF 1692.731854
SAR 4.393759
SBD 9.766778
SCR 16.531148
SDG 703.491445
SEK 11.156241
SGD 1.500404
SHP 0.920622
SLE 26.361541
SLL 24565.953549
SOS 669.484958
SRD 43.639279
STD 24247.862426
SVC 10.249486
SYP 15232.106739
SZL 20.879362
THB 38.281363
TJS 11.333495
TMT 4.111995
TND 3.426105
TOP 2.743793
TRY 46.918233
TTD 7.954138
TWD 34.182041
TZS 3078.14156
UAH 48.963195
UGX 4205.302494
USD 1.171509
UYU 47.388484
UZS 14891.235398
VES 131.546118
VND 30622.062882
VUV 139.765571
WST 3.225587
XAF 656.628805
XAG 0.032165
XAU 0.000354
XCD 3.166061
XDR 0.815468
XOF 656.628805
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.32975
ZAR 20.826138
ZMK 10544.990043
ZMW 28.495154
ZWL 377.225286
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors
Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors / Photo: Handout - AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE/AFP

Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors

Rescuers say they have expanded a search for survivors in quake-rocked Vanuatu to "numerous places of collapse" beyond the stricken capital, as the reported death toll climbed to 10.

Text size:

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the main island on Tuesday, toppling concrete buildings, setting off landslides, damaging water supplies and knocking out mobile networks.

It has so far claimed 10 lives in Port Vila, according to government figures relayed Thursday by the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office.

Two of the dead were Chinese and one French, their countries' embassies have confirmed.

About 80,000 people have been directly affected by the earthquake in the archipelago of 320,000 people which sits in the Pacific's quake-prone Ring of Fire, the UN said.

More than 14,000 of them are children.

Australia and New Zealand dispatched more than 100 personnel, along with rescue gear, dogs and aid supplies, to help hunt for survivors and make emergency repairs.

There are "several major collapse sites where buildings are fully pancaked", Australia's 69-strong rescue team leader Douglas May said in a video update provided by Canberra on Friday.

"Outside of that, there's a lot of smaller collapses around the place," May said.

"We're now starting to spread out to see whether there's further people trapped and further damage. And we've found numerous places of collapse east and west out of the city."

In Port Vila, rescuers have focused on two disaster areas: a four-storey building housing a supermarket, hotel and garage in the north in which the ground floor was flattened; and a two-floor shopping block in the city centre that crumbled into a flat pile of concrete.

- Night-time curfew -

The quake also wrecked a building housing the US, French, British, Australian and New Zealand diplomatic missions. The ground floor along half of that four-storey structure was flattened, but no deaths were reported.

The government has declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night-time curfew.

"One concern now is that there are reports of 900 people displaced out of their houses and who have been sleeping outside for the last few days and nights, without proper access to water and sanitation facilities," said Philippe Guyant, a World Health Organisation medical officer in Vanuatu.

Vanuatu has usually been able to set up refuge for disasters such as cyclones, he told AFP.

"But this time there was no evacuation centre, and people have stayed out for so long. There is a mix of people, some fearing to go back to ... their houses destroyed in the earthquake."

Ivan Oswald, owner of the Nambawan Cafe in the city centre, was serving coffee and food to rescue workers.

"Water and power is back at most places. They are testing water today, so we will know about the water quality and the power company is doing a fantastic job," Oswald told AFP.

"Construction crews are out. People want to come into town but it is blocked off. There are still people around -- once the government lets us operate again, that will be the next thing for us. It will be business as usual."

O.Ruzicka--TPP