SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – The mass evacuation of a volcano-threatened Vanuatu island is running ahead of schedule as a ramshackle armada of civilian boat ferries people to safety, officials said Monday. The entire 11,000 population of Ambae, in the north of the Pacific archipelago, has been ordered to leave after the Manaro Voui volcano rumbled to life and rained rock and ash on villages last week. The evacuation to nearby islands was scheduled for completion […]
Tag: Vanuatu
Thousands evacuated from Vanuatu island as volcano erupts
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Vanuatu has declared a state of emergency and evacuated thousands of residents from an island in the Pacific archipelago after a volcanic eruption rained rocks and ash on nearby homes, reports and officials said Tuesday. After weeks of rumbling, activity from the Manaro Voui volcano — at the center of the northern island of Ambae — increased in recent days, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department said. The department on Saturday […]
Powerful 6.4 quake off Vanuatu, no damage reported
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck near the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu Thursday but there was no tsunami warning or any immediate reports of damage, officials said. The US Geological Survey said the quake hit about 143 kilometers (88 miles) southeast of the capital Port Vila at 7:09am local time (2009 GMT Wednesday) at a depth of 200 kilometres. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no […]
Vanuatu President dies of heart attack: report
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) –The President of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, has died of a heart attack, the Vanuatu Daily Post reported Saturday. He was 67. Lonsdale, who sacked his government two years ago over a massive corruption scandal, passed away in the Pacific island nation’s capital of Port Vila. “National Flag is at half mast early this morning. His body is reportedly at the Vila Central Hospital,” the newspaper said. Former Vanuatu MP Sela Molisa […]
Vanuatu tsunami threat over after big quake: scientists
WELLINGTON ,New Zealand (AFP) — A major earthquake hit the Pacific nation of Vanuatu early Friday, briefly prompting a tsunami warning that was cancelled after locals reported no significant damage. The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0-magnitude quake — originally reported as 7.3 — struck at a relatively shallow depth of 35 kilometres (21 miles) some 209 kilometres from the capital Port Vila. The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) initially warned the quake, which hit […]
Earthquake strikes Vanuatu
According to the United States Geological Survey, the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu was hit by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is not expecting any tsunami. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Dexter Magno, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos)





