Author: Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University

The death toll from Vanuatu’s earthquake disaster continues to rise, with international search and rescue operations underway to help people hit by the initial quake and its aftershocks. On Tuesday afternoon, a powerful earthquake struck 30 kilometres off the west coast of Efate, the main island of Vanuatu. At a magnitude of 7.2 and a depth of just 50km, the earthquake damaged many buildings and injured dozens of people in Port Vila, the Pacific nation’s capital. Since then, there have been numerous aftershocks at nearly the same location, including a magnitude 5.5 this morning, further adding to the devastation and…