PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A powerful earthquake has struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti, killing at least 304 people and injuring more than 1,800.
The 7.2-magnitude quake hit the west of the country on Saturday morning, toppling and damaging buildings including churches and hotels.
The prime minister said there was “extensive damage” and declared a month-long state of emergency.
Haiti is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake.
The epicentre of Saturday’s quake was about 12km from the town of Saint-Louis du Sud, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The tremor was felt in the densely-populated capital of Port-au-Prince, some 125km away, and in neighbouring countries.
“Lots of homes are destroyed, people are dead and some are at the hospital,” Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicentre, said.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he had mobilised a team to work on the relief effort.
“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” he said. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”
Henry later revealed he had flown in a plane over the city of Cayes.
US President Joe Biden authorised an “immediate US response” to help the country and said USAID would work to support efforts to “assess the damage and assist efforts to recover those who were injured and those who must now rebuild”.
“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake,” he said.
The USGS earlier warned that the earthquake could result in thousands of fatalities and injuries. It also said at least six aftershocks had been felt in the region including one measuring 5.1 magnitude.
Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of Haiti’s Le Nouvelliste newspaper, tweeted that two hotels were among the buildings destroyed in the town of Les Cayes. He said the local hospital was overwhelmed.
“Slowly, strongly and for very long seconds the earth shook in Haiti on 14 August, 2021 around 8:30 am,” he wrote.
Reporters at Le Nouvelliste later said the majority of churches and hotels on the south coast had collapsed or suffered major damage.
Archdeacon Abiade Lozama, head of an Episcopal church in Les Cayes, told the New York Times: “The streets are filled with screaming. People are searching, for loved ones or resources, medical help, water.”
Leila Bourahla, Haiti director of Save the Children, told the New York Times it would take days to assess the damage but “it is clear that this is a massive humanitarian emergency”.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka, who is of Japanese and Haitian descent, tweeted her solidarity with Haiti.
Referring to next week’s Western & Southern Open, the four-time Grand Slam winner wrote: “I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti. I know our ancestors’ blood is strong we’ll keep rising.”
The January 2010 magnitude-7.0 quake transformed much of Port-au-Prince and nearby cities into dusty ruins, killing more than 200,000 and injuring some 300,000 others.
More than a million and a half Haitians were made homeless, leaving island authorities and the international humanitarian community with a colossal challenge in a country lacking either a land registry or building codes.
The quake destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as administrative buildings and schools, not to mention 60 percent of Haiti’s health-care system.
The rebuilding of the country’s main hospital remains incomplete, and nongovernmental organizations have struggled to make up for the state’s many deficiencies.
Yesterday quake comes just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home by a team of gunmen, shaking a country already battling poverty, spiraling gang violence and Covid-19.
Police say they have arrested 44 people in connection with the killing, including 12 Haitian police officers, 18 Colombians who were allegedly part of the commando team, and two Americans of Haitian descent.
The head of Moise’s security detail is among those detained in connection with the plot allegedly organized by a group of Haitians with foreign ties.
Police have issued wanted-persons notices for several other people, including a judge from Haiti’s highest court, a former senator and a businessman.
Moise had been ruling the impoverished and disaster-plagued nation by decree, as gang violence spiked and Covid-19 spread. — NNN-AGENCIES
