Witnesses described scenes of panic in Vanuatu on Thursday after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake sparked a Pacific tsunami warning.
"People are hysterical, trying to find out what's going on and contacting family members. Phone lines are going down as a result," said an official with aid group CARE Australia.
The capital shut down as workers fled and hotels cleared tourists off the beaches, a resort official said.
"Shops and offices in the city have been closed and workers have run to higher ground in case of a tsunami," said Arjun Channa, general manager of the luxury Le Meridien resort in Port Vila.
"At the hotel, all guests have been cleared off the beaches and we are contacting all cruises to stop those and get the passengers to safer areas, just in case" he told AFP.
"We have evacuated everyone to higher ground -- well above sea-level -- and are preventing anyone from going into town," he said, before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled the warning.
Several residents said they felt three major quakes -- with magnitudes of 7.8, 7.7 and 7.3 -- that shook the Vanuatu region early Thursday.
"We felt the quakes, especially the first one. They were not very violent here but we certainly felt them," Channa said.
"We've got to get out of offices that are too close to the water," said a foreign worker, who asked not to be identified. "There is a tsunami warning and no one is taking any chances now," he added.
LOCAL NEWS
Panic in Vanuatu after tsunami alert
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