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Two strong quakes rattle Vanuatu, no reports of damage

Two strong earthquakes struck yesterday near the archipelago of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, Australia's geological agency reported, but there were no reports of damage.

The first quake, measured at magnitude 7.3 at 11:40am, occurred two minutes before a large quake jolted the western coast area of central Japan.

Vanuatu's second quake, at magnitude 7.1, occurred 28 minutes later.

Police on Vanuatu, an islands nation of 209,000 people which is popular with divers, said there appeared to be no damage, although buildings in the capital, Port Vila, shook when the quakes occurred.

"So far we haven't received any damage or any injury," Senior Inspector Tapeirangi Seru said by telephone from Port Vila. "There's a shaking of buildings, but not strong enough to damage the buildings here."

Vanuatu, which is around 2,000km east of Australia, around three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia, is regularly rattled by earthquakes.

It is perched on the so-called Pacific ring of fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Its clear waters, coral reefs, volcanoes and pristine forests are a big draw for tourists.

There was a state of emergency in Port Vila for two weeks this month after tribal clashes left three people dead.

However, Vanuatu has escaped the worst of the rioting, gang warfare and military coups which have shattered the peace in other South Pacific island nations in recent years.

Australia's geological agency Geoscience Australia said yesterday that Vanuatu would likely escape quake damage.

"I wouldn't be expecting any damage," said Mark Leonard, the duty seismologist at Geoscience Australia.

"Earthquakes of this size only do damage 50km or 100km away and there was no land [nearby], unlike the Japan one," he said.

The earthquake occurred out at sea, within 300km of Vanuatu's southern islands, he said.

A tsunami alert was issued for some of its southern islands, police said. Australia's Emergency Management Office warned the quakes could generate a tsunami affecting Vanuatu's outlying islands, police spokesman Captain Arnold Giro said.

"We are moving communities to higher ground," he said. "We have advised the islands to be alert for a possible tsunami."

Police and emergency services were still checking the effects of the quakes, Giro said.

"It's likely that it's caused a very small tsunami ... about 0.3m or 0.4m in that local area," Leonard said.

The US Geological Survey said the first Vanuatu quake was centered 337km south-south-east of Port Vila and 1,833km east-north-east of Brisbane, Australia.
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