At least one person was killed after a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the main island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific on Tuesday, triggering landslips, flattening buildings and cutting power and communications.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck Vanuatu's capital Port Vila on Tuesday, with the United Nations reporting six unconfirmed deaths and that two reservoirs and a hospital had been damaged. State broadcaster VBTC showed footage of vehicles crushed under the debris of collapsed buildings and boulders strewn across a highway.