Buildings flattened as 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Vanuatu   BBC - December 17, 2024

Widespread damage, casualties reported after major M7.3 earthquake hits Port-Vila, Vanuatu   Watchers - December 17, 2024

Vanuatu sits on the Pacific Plate, with the movement of the Indo-Australian Plate subducting beneath it, creating an active tectonic zone known as the Vanuatu Subduction Zone.

It seems the Pacific Plate is on the move again - north, south, east, and west. Its activity should not be ignored - just monitored when you see a big red circle on the map at the top of this page.

Twenty years ago - on Boxing Day December 26, 2004 - you might remember the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami - a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 and an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

I'm remembering a connection between closure of this simulated reality and the Papua New Guinea Tsunami on July 17, 1998 as told to me when I posted on that date. The earthquake occurred along the boundary of the Australian and the Pacific tectonic plates after a massive underwater landslide occurred.