Haitian Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry said the quake had also caused “enormous damage” in parts of the country
A major 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti has left “several” dead and caused “enormous damage” in parts of the country, the Haitian Prime Minister said.
Ariel Henry vowed to mobilise all resources to deliver aid to victims who had rushed into the streets in fear their homes would collapse when the quake hit on Saturday morning.
On Twitter Dr Henry said that the “violent quake” had caused loss of life and damage in various parts of the country. He appealed to Haitians to unify as they “confront this dramatic situation in which we’re living right now”.
The tremor that was felt across the Caribbean was stronger and shallower than the magnitude 7 earthquake that devastated Haiti 11 years ago, where the government’s death toll reached more than 300,000.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a red alert for fatalities saying casualties were probable and the disaster was likely to be widespread.
Haitian media outlets reported some people along the coast had already fled to the mountains.
Images on social media showed homes and part of a church in the town of Jeremie reduced to rubble.
Naomi Verneus, 34, from Port-au-Prince, said she was jolted awake by the earthquake and that her bed was shaking.
“I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbour went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” she said.
Daniel Ross, from the eastern Cuban city of Guantanamo, said his home stood firm while his furniture shook.
“Everyone is really afraid,” he said. “It’s been years since such a big earthquake.”
The earthquake struck five miles from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 90 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of six miles, the US Geological Survey said.
In Jamaica, residents also felt the quake. Danny Bailey, 49, in Kingston, said the tremors woke him up. He said: “My roof kind of make some noise.”
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) also reported a quake in the region, saying it was magnitude 7.6 while Cuba’s seismological centre said it registered a magnitude of 7.4.
The country is still recovering from the quake in 2010 which flattened buildings and left many homeless.
Haiti was struck again by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in 2018 that killed more than a dozen people, and a vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake that damaged much of the capital in 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people.
This earthquake hits Haiti as the country is gripped in economic and political turmoil.
In July their president Jovenel Moise was assassinated and as questions remain about his killing, the attack has triggered weeks of civil unrest.
Source:(News Now)