At least 14 killed, over 200 injured after Vanuatu earthquake

Rescuers in Vanuatu searched on Wednesday for people trapped under rubble a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation's capital Port Vila, killing 14 people and damaging commercial buildings, embassies and a hospital.

More than 200 people have been injured, with rescue efforts focused on two buildings that collapsed, Vanuatu Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said in a video message.

Three people trapped in a collapsed building were communicating with rescuers, he said.

"We believe there are more stuck inside," Iavro said.

Footage posted on social media showed vehicles crushed under the debris, boulders strewn across a highway and landslides near Port Vila's international shipping terminal. National broadcaster VBTC showed people queuing for fuel and essentials.

Australian Michael Thompson, who runs a zip line adventure business in Vanuatu, said he had helped dig people out of the rubble overnight.

"Three people have been removed alive with one in a very serious condition ... incredible displays of bravery with people entering confined spaces to conduct rescues," Thompson said in a post on Facebook.

One woman who had been pulled from the rubble later died, Iavro said.

Power, water and communications remain disrupted, government and energy officials said. Triage tents have been set up outside Port Vila's hospital to manage the influx of patients.

Ten buildings in Port Vila's main town had major structural damage, the National Disaster Management Office said.

Basil Leodoro, an emergency doctor in Vanuatu with health emergency firm Respond Global, said in a social media post that two buildings — Billabong House and a Chinese store — had collapsed, with rescuers trying to save people.

Two Chinese nationals had died in the earthquake, China's Ambassador to Vanuatu Li Minggang told state media on Wednesday.

Of the 14 confirmed deaths, six people had died in landslides, four in the collapsed Billabong building and four at Vila Central Hospital, the National Disaster Management office said in a report.

Concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the United States, British, French and New Zealand embassies, collapsed in the powerful quake.