Search for survivors as 14 people were reported killed in the earthquake

The death toll from the earthquake that struck Vanuatu on Tuesday has risen to 14, as search teams sift through piles of rubble in an attempt to locate survivors.

Two hundred others are being treated for injuries, as strong aftershocks from the 7.3-magnitude earthquake were reported overnight.

The earthquake damaged buildings, including the embassies of the United States, France, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Electricity and mobile phone services were also cut.

Vanuatu Police said a seven-day state of emergency had been declared to limit public movement while search and relief operations were underway.

The government said that four of the dead died in a hospital in the capital, Port Vila. Six of them were caused by a landslide, while four were from a collapsed building, with the death toll expected to rise further.

Chinese Ambassador to Vanuatu Li Minggang told state media that two of the dead were Chinese citizens.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said an estimated 116,000 people could be affected by the worst effects of the earthquake.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told ABC News on Wednesday that neighboring Australia would send teams to assist in search and rescue efforts. The United States and France also pledged to provide aid.

Pictures posted by Vanuatu police on Facebook showed rescuers sifting through rubble with their hands and crawling under the floors of collapsed buildings.

The government Disaster Management Office said at least 10 buildings in Port Vila suffered major structural damage.

Vanuatu resident Michael Thompson told Agence France-Presse that rescuers heard the voices of at least three people from under the rubble of a three-story building.

Thompson said rescuers used “everything we could get our hands on,” including hammers, grinders and concrete saws, to rescue people.

Images broadcast by state broadcaster VPTC showed several businesses closed in Port Vila on Wednesday, with debris strewn on the pavement and some roads cracked.

Some people were seen searching for basic supplies.

The quake occurred at 12:47 local time (01:47 GMT) on Tuesday and triggered a short tsunami warning.

Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of about 80 islands in the South Pacific, is located west of Fiji and thousands of kilometers east of northern Australia.

The country is located in a seismically active zone, and is prone to frequent large earthquakes and other natural disasters.

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