In December, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake devastated Vanuatu, resulting in at least 14 fatalities and over 200 injuries. Amid ongoing aftershocks, the true impact on communities is unfolding, with thousands left displaced and without access to basic services. Residents, like Alice Hawel, experienced harrowing moments, including landslides that buried loved ones. Vanuatu, already struggling with prior natural disasters and economic instability, faces compounding fears as they navigate recovery efforts and the persistence of trauma among children, particularly with recurrences of extreme weather.
As aftershocks continue, the true cost of the devastation wrought on the small Pacific island archipelago nation of Vanuatu by the 17 December quake is now beginning to emerge.
The landslide had gouged a huge scar through their property, and Hawel heard the cries: Mummy, mummy. She scrambled outside to find her son Samuel, 3, buried up to his chin in rubble.
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