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.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) representative said they were "monitoring the situation" in Vanuatu. "There are 37 New Zealanders registered on SafeTravel as being in Vanuatu. New Zealanders there should follow the advice of authorities.

A second earthquake in just five days has struck the Vanuatu Islands in the early hours of Sunday morning. The magnitude 6.2 quake follows a magnitude 7.3 that killed 14 people on Tuesday. Flights to Vanuatu's capital had just reopened after the first quake which toppled buildings,