Multiple Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) flights to Vanuatu this week have delivered emergency responders and tonnes of search and rescue equipment and aid, while 93 New Zealanders and approved foreign nationals have been evacuated.
Another evacuation flight is being planned for Saturday and the aircraft will also deliver more humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies as part of New Zealand’s support to Vanuatu following Tuesday’s 7.3-magnitude earthquake.
Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Major General Rob Krushka, says the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has been working closely with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) officials and partners in Vanuatu to deliver the support requested by the Government of Vanuatu.
“As always, we are ready to provide all available resources to help our friends in the Pacific,” Major General Krushka said.
RNZAF P-8A Poseidon, Boeing 757, C-130J and C-130H Hercules aircraft were all involved in the response.
After delivering more than seven tonnes of aid, the Boeing 757 arrived in Auckland last night carrying 93 passengers, most of whom were New Zealanders and their families. Twelve approved foreign nationals were also on board.
The NZDF had medical staff available for evacuees in Vanuatu, and the aircraft had food, child safety harnesses and personal products for families for the flight home.
Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott, says RNZAF aircraft continue to be on stand-by.
However, there were no requests for flights today with the focus being on delivering more humanitarian assistance supplies tomorrow ahead of further evacuations.
Urban Search and Rescue personnel, plus NZ Police, Ministry of Health, National Emergency and Management Agency staff and MFAT consular staff, plus more than 15 tonnes of search and rescue equipment and aid supplies, were taken to Vanuatu on RNZAF aircraft Thursday.
Poseidon crew also conducted a second surveillance flight to provide further assessments of damage, including flying over outlying areas to inform understanding of the impact of the earthquake outside of Port Vila.
“RNZAF personnel are pulling out all the stops to deliver support to Vanuatu,” Air Commodore Scott said.
“Aircraft were flying as soon as aid supplies and equipment arrived at Whenuapai and could be packaged up. We have been using multiple aircraft types to provide support, and are extremely proud to be able to support our Pacific neighbours when they need our help.”
Meanwhile, a Kiwi in Vanuatu says the mood has shifted around Port Vila’s collapsed CBD building, with locals feeling it is unlikely they will find anyone else alive.
The death toll from Tuesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake is around 16, but expected to rise.
The Chair of the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council, Glen Craig, said from talking to people near the pancaked Billabong building, hopes have been dwindling.
“They’ve been marginalized. And I’d have to say, just due to the conditions and the heat, we haven’t heard a lot… before, we were hearing the odd noise coming through,” he said.
“From the people on the ground I’ve been talking to at the Billabong one – which is, of course, the only building that collapsed in the CBD; it’s the one that, as you mentioned, did pancake – where the general consensus amongst the local population is that it is a recovery rather than a rescue now.
“We think they’ve recovered most, but there’s still some in there.”
Craig told said the rest of Port Vila was relatively unscathed, although there had been a large landslip.
“Out in the residential side of things, our communities, we’ve been largely… inconvenienced rather than really affected.”
Almost all of Port Vila now had water, and power was also being restored suburb by suburb, he said.
“There will still be pockets of things that needs to be done but generally it’s been an inconvenience and now we’re getting it back up and running.”
In his village of 6000 people, he did not know of any families that had been displaced by the quake, Craig said.
The summer holidays were an important time for the local tourism sector.
“Everyone was fully booked and then this happens. The hotels and the resorts … are all ready for guests.
“It’s so unfortunate. We are a tourism and agriculture-focused economy… We’re looking for our first good summer, because we’ve got Jetstar, Virgin, Qantas… we’ve never had such a raft of international airlines flying in before.
On Thursday evening, Vanuatu President Nike Vurobatavu said the number of people dead was “around 162.
One consistent figure is the more than 200 people injured, with the hospital saying many patients were being treated for broken bones.
Vanuatu police were urging people to come forward and report missing persons.
Aid teams in Vanuatu have ramped up support for tens of thousands of people affected by Wednesday’s devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake and several major aftershocks.
According to UN satellite analysis, an estimated 116,000 people could be affected by the disaster. At least 14 deaths have been reported.
Immediate needs include healthcare support, shelter, access to clean water and the restoration of emergency communications. Emergency response efforts are underway, and humanitarian partners are mobilizing to assist the affected population.
Some 40,000 children in the South Pacific Island nation need humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund.
It has already dispatched community first aid kits, health kits and tents to support essential health services. It has also provided safe water to medical facilities.
Many challenges remain across the island, where many buildings have been damaged, including hospitals. Landslides have cut roads and bridges connecting the airport and the main seaport is also reported to have been severely damaged.
