Earthquakes in Vanuatu

Just to let everyone know, there have been a number of earthquakes this morning located off the coast of the northern most islands of the Vanuatu chain. The largest earthquake measured 7.8. A tsunami warning was issued, but we just heard that they’ve cancelled it now. We have not heard of any damage from the earthquake nor that any tsunami actually occurred in Vanuatu or Solomon Islands to the north. If anyone is interested, here is a website that will give you the latest information about earthquakes around the world. I’ve got it set for the South Pacific: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/S_Pacific_eqs.php



We went to town (right along the seafront) this morning to begin the process of renewing our residence visas only to find that the Immigration Office was closed along with quite a few other stores. We didn’t think it was a public holiday. We soon found out that there was a tsunami warning. There was a cruise ship in port and lots of tourists milling about town but not looking alarmed in any way. One of the members of the Black Sand Nazarene Church stopped us as we were getting into our truck to leave and asked if we knew anything about the tidal wave. We pooled our bits of knowledge and determined that most likely the danger time was past.



Here in Port Vila we haven’t felt any of the earthquakes. We will keep you posted as we hear news from the north. Please keep the Asia Pacific Region in your prayers. There have been many natural disasters recently – typhoons and flooding in the Philippines, devastating earthquakes in Indonesia, and tsunami in Samoa – all resulting in the loss of life and destruction of homes and livelihood.