HONG KONG — A cyclone mauled the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Saturday, killing at least eight people, tearing apart many homes and leaving residents to fear even worse death and destruction on remoter parts of the archipelago that remained out of contact.

Tropical Cyclone Pam has left a path of damage across the Pacific Ocean, and it bore down on the islands of Vanuatu from late Friday with winds of around 160 miles an hour, according to the Vanuatu meteorological service. Residents endured a night of roaring winds, and several in the capital, Port-Vila, said it was the most ferocious cyclone they could remember.

On Sunday morning, many towns and villages remained out of contact with the capital, leaving government officials and relief workers uncertain, but fearful, about the extent of the damage.

“It’s absolutely devastating here,” Charlie Damon, a program manager for the charity CARE International, said in a phone interview from Port-Vila. “We can make assumptions on the outer islands based on what we see here.”