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

Clement Chipokolo, World Vision’s country director for Vanuatu, said Vila Central Hospital was already under pressure before the quake and was overwhelmed by the surge of patients when he visited on Tuesday. “They’re definitely not coping,” Chipokolo told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The U.N. humanitarian office said access to the airport and seaport was “severely restricted due to road damage.” The damage assessment at the airport was scheduled to be carried out on Wednesday.

Some people are trapped

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 were seen working with tools and shovels.

Messages are damaged

A building housing several diplomatic missions in Port Vila – including those of the United States, Britain, France and New Zealand – suffered significant damage, with part of the building splitting off and the ground floor leveled. Windows were dented and walls collapsed.

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.

Prime Minister speaks

In the country’s first official statements following widespread telecommunications outages, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai told the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation that a state of emergency had been declared in the worst-hit areas and a curfew had been imposed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Only essential services would operate, Salwai said. He urged officials to work towards restoring water and telephone services.

Previously, residents were urged to stay away from the coasts for at least 24 hours until tsunami and earthquake monitoring systems were operational again.

All flights have been suspended

McGarry said a “massive landslide” at the international shipping terminal and damage to the airport would likely hamper the recovery in a country dependent on agricultural exports and tourism. Some airlines in Australia and the Pacific said they had canceled or paused flights scheduled for Wednesday.

A New Zealand military surveillance plane was due to fly over Vanuatu on Wednesday to assess the damage. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his country hoped to send aid and equipment the same day the airport opens for use.

“With communications still severely affected by the earthquake, it will take time to clarify with Vanuatu what assistance it needs in the coming days,” Peters said.

Australia sent two air force transport planes with a medical team and a search and rescue team to Vanuatu on Wednesday, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said. The French military is also mobilizing to help, Army Minister Sébastien Lecornu posted on X.

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.

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.