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PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AFP) — Vanuatu’s rigid coronavirus lockdown is hindering critical relief efforts to rebuild the island country after it was pummelled by Tropical Cyclone Harold, aid agencies said Saturday. Nearly two weeks after the deadly monster storm barrelled through the South Pacific, local media reported that newly homeless families were still sleeping in the open. Australia, New Zealand and China have rushed in emergency aid but distribution has been hampered by strict quarantine […]
SUVA Fiji (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people remain homeless in Vanuatu a week after Tropical Cyclone Harold pummelled the impoverished Pacific nation, smashing houses and destroying crops, aid workers said Tuesday. The cyclone careened through the South Pacific last week, peaking as a Category Five superstorm that gouged a trail of destruction across the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga. With aid efforts hampered by coronavirus-related travel restrictions, World Vision said up to […]
NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AFP) — Tropical Cyclone Harold surged back into a scale-topping Category Five storm Thursday as it sideswiped Tonga after leaving a trail of destruction across the South Pacific. The island kingdom declared a state of emergency late Wednesday as the storm bore down, warning of destructive winds and massive sea surges. Police said early Thursday that power had been cut in parts of the country and howling winds were gathering pace amid heavy […]
SUVA, Fiji (AFP) — A deadly Pacific cyclone bore down on Fiji Wednesday after leaving a trail of destruction in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Tropical Cyclone Harold weakened slightly overnight from a scale-topping category five to a four, but was still lashing Fiji with winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), forecasters said. The official NaDraki weather service said the cyclone was offshore south of Fiji’s main island Viti […]
PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AFP) — A deadly Pacific cyclone cut off communication links to Vanuatu’s northern islands Tuesday, with aid officials saying they had grave concerns for residents in the remote areas. Tropical Cyclone Harold, which claimed 27 lives when it swept through the Solomon Islands last week, lashed Vanuatu’s northern provinces overnight as a scale-topping category five superstorm. Red Cross Vanuatu secretary general Jacqueline de Gaillande said the cyclone, packing winds of up to […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck near the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. USGS said the quake hit about 178 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of the capital Port Vila at 2:02 am (1502 GMT Wednesday) at a depth of 179 kilometers. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat from the quake. USGS said there was […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The Pacific nation of Vanuatu has announced plans to ban disposable diapers in a move it says will significantly reduce pollution. Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu announced the ban at a conference in Port Vila this week, saying plastic cutlery, polystyrene cups, plastic drinks stirrers and types of food packaging would also be outlawed. He said research showed disposable diapers — or nappies as they are known outside North America — […]
NOUMEA, France (AFP) — A powerful new earthquake hit off New Caledonia Wednesday just hours after a strong tremor hit the Pacific region, but there was no new tsunami alert, authorities said. The quake struck at 5:43pm local time (0643 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) some 192 kilometers east-southeast of Tadine in New Caledonia, an overseas French territory north of New Zealand. The US Geological Survey revised it to magnitude 6.6 […]
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Wednesday morning, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck at a moderate depth of 30 kilometres (19 miles) with the epicentre just off the northern tip of Vanuatu’s sparsely-populated Ambrym island. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami risk. “Shaking would have been felt throughout the whole of Vanuatu,” Geoscience Australia senior seismologist […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Vanuatu renewed a state of emergency on the volcano-hit island of Ambae Friday and ordered the compulsory evacuation of all residents. A series of eruptions at the Manaro volcano that began last September intensified this week, sending a 12 kilometer (7.5 mile) column of ash spewing into the atmosphere. The Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazards department has described the volcano as a “danger to direct safety to life” and warned people […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A powerful 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Vanuatu Friday, US seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning issued. The quake struck at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles) some 30 kilometers west of the Pacific nation’s capital Port Vila, the US Geological Survey said. USGS said there was low likelihood of casualties and damage although it added that recent earthquakes in the area had caused […]
PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AFP) — Entire communities living under the shadow of a smouldering volcano on an island in Vanuatu will be permanently relocated to another island from next week, the Pacific nation’s government has decided. Most villagers on the northern island of Ambae had only recently returned home. The 11,000 people on the island were forced to leave last September when the Manaro volcano erupted. The latest evacuation is not compulsory but the […]
