WELLINGTON, New Zealand – At least 14 people have died and hundreds more were injured after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off Vanuatu on Tuesday, causing widespread damage across the South Pacific island nation. Rescuers worked through the night to reach some people screaming under the rubble.

The Red Cross reported the toll early Wednesday, citing government sources. Widespread damage to communications and other infrastructure has hindered the release of official reports. Telephone service remained down.

The earthquake struck just before 1 p.m. at a depth of 35 miles and was centered about 18 miles west of Port Vila, the largest city in Vanuatu, a group of 80 islands that is home to about 330,000 people. A tsunami warning was canceled less than two hours after the quake, which was followed by severe aftershocks.

More than 200 people were injured, Katie Greenwood, the Fiji-based head of the Red Cross in the Pacific, said in a post on the social media platform X. Vanuatu’s main hospital was damaged and water supplies were affected, she said.

The U.N. humanitarian office said access to the airport and seaport was “severely limited due to road damage,” which could affect efforts to deliver aid.

Residents have been urged to stay away from the coast for at least 24 hours until tsunami and earthquake monitoring systems are operational again.

Videos on social media showed nighttime rescue operations for people trapped in buildings, including a three-story building that collapsed into the lower floors.

Amanda Laithwaite said her husband was among the rescuers searching for eight people they heard screaming inside, but their progress was slow.

Three people were pulled alive from the rubble overnight, her husband Michael Thompson wrote on Facebook. In a video he shared, a woman covered in dust was lying on a stretcher. Army personnel and civilians worked with tools and shovels, Thompson said.

The country is incapable of dealing with a mass casualty event, Vanuatu-based journalist Dan McGarry told the Associated Press. He had visited Vila Central Hospital, where a video shared by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation showed crowds outside.

Doctors were working “as quickly as they could” in a triage center outside the emergency room, he said.

A building that housed several diplomatic missions in Port Vila – including those of the United States, Britain, France and New Zealand – sustained significant damage.

The US Embassy’s Facebook page said all staff were safe, but the building was closed until further notice. The office opened in July as the US sought to expand its presence in the Pacific to counter China’s influence in the region.

New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said officials had held all but two of its embassy staff responsible. Australia’s Foreign Ministry said its workers were safe.

McGarry said a “massive landslide” at the international shipping terminal was likely to hamper the recovery. The airport’s runway was also damaged, he said.

Some airlines in Australia and the Pacific said they had canceled or paused flights scheduled for Wednesday and were awaiting news on the status of the airport.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on

Because of Vanuatu’s location in a subduction zone – where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate moves beneath the Pacific plate – earthquakes larger than magnitude 6 are not uncommon, and the country’s buildings are designed to withstand earthquake damage.