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A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Tuesday.

A tsunami warning was lifted less than two hours after the quake. But with communications still broken hours later and official updates limited, reports of casualties began to emerge on social media and through occasional phone calls.

Why it matters

Vanuatu is a group of 80 islands home to around 330,000 people.

It was not immediately clear how much damage was caused or how many casualties there were, as phone lines and government websites remained down.

What you should know

The earthquake struck at a depth of 35 miles, with its epicenter 18 miles west of Port Vila, the largest city in Vanuatu.

A magnitude 5.5 aftershock followed shortly after, and shaking continued throughout the afternoon and evening local time.

Residents have been advised to avoid the coast for at least 24 hours or until tsunami and earthquake monitoring systems are fully operational again.

Video footage from the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation showed crowds gathering outside Vila Central Hospital.

Telephone lines to the police, hospitals and other public services could not be established.

Reports of people trapped in collapsed buildings could not immediately be verified.

A video shared on social media appeared to show crumpled buildings in Port Vila, including one that had collapsed onto cars.

A spokesman for the Red Cross in Fiji said the head of the organization’s Vanuatu office reported significant damage before communications were lost.

New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that a building housing several diplomatic missions, including those of the United States, Britain, France and New Zealand, was badly damaged.

Officials were working on accounting for staff at the New Zealand High Commission, while the US Embassy announced on its Facebook page that its office was closed until further notice.

Videos posted online showed structural damage, dented windows and debris strewn across the ground.

Additional images and videos showed landslides blocking roads and items strewn on store floors.

What people say

Port Vila journalist Dan McGarry said he heard from a police officer outside Vila Central Hospital about a fatality in the quake. McGarry saw three people on stretchers who were “obviously distressed.” Doctors were working “as quickly as they could” in a triage center outside the emergency room, he added.

According to McGarry, the country is unprepared for a mass casualty event, a “massive landslide” at the international shipping terminal is likely to hamper the country’s recovery and the airport’s runway is also damaged.

“I think it could have been worse,” he said, but added that this was “by far” the worst he had experienced in 21 years in Vanuatu.

Fiji-based Red Cross Asia-Pacific regional office manager Katie Greenwoodtold the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that downtown Port Vila was full of large buildings and hotels: “We haven’t heard of any casualties at the moment, but I would be shocked if we don’t hear that bad news coming through from Port Vila at some point.” .

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters that Australian High Commission staff were safe: “We will provide any assistance required,” she said. “I say to the people of Vanuatu: you are family and Australia is here to help.”

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said 45 New Zealanders were registered in Vanuatu and its government was “deeply concerned” about the situation there.

What happens next

Because of Vanuatu’s location in a subduction zone – where the Indo-Australian plate slides under the Pacific plate – earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6 are not uncommon.

The country’s buildings are generally designed to withstand some degree of seismic activity.

The extent of the damage and the number of victims will become clearer once official communication channels reopen.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press