This photo shows a general view of a severely damaged building housing the embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand after a powerful earthquake struck Port Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu, on December 17, 2024. A powerful earthquake hit the Pacific island of Vanuatu on December 17, smashing buildings in the capital Port Vila including one housing the US and other embassies, with a witness telling AFP of bodies seen in the city. (Photo by AFP)
Important Takeaways:
- The U.S. Embassy reportedly suffered severe damage during a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu near Australia.
- Video circulating 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 spokesperson for New Zealand’s foreign ministry said in a statement the country’s “High Commission building, which is co-located with the United States, the French and the United Kingdom, has sustained significant damage.”
- Vanuatu had been a colony of the British and the French until 1980 when it gained independence and became an independent republic.
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