Major earthquake in Haiti felt across Caribbean; many casualties expected
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A post from a Twitter user showing the damage from the quake in Haiti, which struck 8km from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10km.
PHOTO: @RALPHSIMON13 /TWITTER
PORT-AU-PRINCE • A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti yesterday, likely causing a high number of casualties and widespread disaster in the impoverished Caribbean country that is still recovering from a disastrous quake more than 11 years ago.
The earthquake struck 8km from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake was also felt across the Caribbean.
That made the temblor potentially bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 quake that struck Haiti 11 years ago, killing tens if not hundreds of thousands of people, flattening buildings and leaving many homeless.
The US Tsunami Warning System issued a warning after the quake, but lifted it soon after, although Haitian media reported some people along the coast had already fled to the mountains.
Haiti's Civil Protection service said on Twitter that there were initial reports of likely casualties from its teams.
At least two cities reported major devastation: Les Cayes and Jeremie. Phone lines were down in Petit Trou de Nippes, and no news emerged immediately from that city, leaving Haitian officials to fear for the worst.
"Many houses fell, many people are trapped under the rubble," said Mr Widchell Augustin, 35, from Les Cayes, where he lives. "We can hear people screaming under the rubble. People are running back and forth to the hospital."
Images posted on social media - which Reuters was not immediately able to verify - showed homes and part of a church in Jeremie reduced to rubble.
"In my neighbourhood, I heard people screaming," said Port-au-Prince resident Sephora Pierre Louis, adding that she was still in a state of shock.
The earthquake comes at a time when Haiti is already mired in intertwined political, humanitarian and security crises.
The government is in turmoil, a month after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, while swaths of the country are facing growing hunger and healthcare services are overwhelmed by coronavirus outbreaks.
The quake was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica although there were no reports of material damage, deaths or injuries there.
NYTIMES, REUTERS