A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti. Hundreds killed

Buildings have collapsed and hundreds are feared dead after Saturday’s quake. Video / CNN

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck southwest Haiti today, killing at least 304 people and injuring at least 1,800 others as buildings fell into rubble. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns had been devastated and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was 125 km west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and widespread damage was reported in the poorest countries of the hemisphere due to a tropical storm.

Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said on Twitter that the death toll had reached 304, most of them in the south of the country. Rescue workers and passersby were able to pull several people from under the rubble to a safe place. The agency said the wounded were still being taken to hospitals.

People search for survivors amid the wreckage of an earthquake-devastated house in Les Cayes, Haiti, after a magnitude 7 earthquake. photo / AP

Henry declared a month-long state of emergency for the entire country and said he would not seek international assistance until the extent of the damage was known. He said some towns were almost completely destroyed and the government had people in the coastal town of Les Caye to help plan and coordinate the response.

“The most important thing is to get as many survivors back as possible under the rubble,” Henry said. “We have learned that local hospitals, particularly Les Cay Hospital, are overcrowded with the wounded and the broken.”

The earthquake occurred about 125 km west of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. Photo/USGS

He said the International Red Cross and hospitals in unaffected areas were helping care for the wounded, and Haitians pleaded for unity.

“The needs are enormous. We must take care of the wounded and the broken, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” he said.

Later, as he boarded a plane bound for Les Cayes, Henry said he wanted “organized solidarity” to ensure the response was coordinated to avoid the confusion that followed the devastating 2010 earthquake, when aid was slow to reach residents after they numbered 300,000. killing.

Footage from Les Cayes shows damaged buildings after a deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Haiti. https://t.co/rW66kixHh3 pic.twitter.com/MfHtqhgCSz

– ABC News (@ABC) August 14, 2021

Haiti has suffered a lot. Political turmoil, natural disaster after natural disaster, external intervention, humanitarian crisis, and today another massive earthquake (7.2). Strength with the people of ?? pic.twitter.com/s9Hu7WxT39

Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) August 14, 2021

And the US Geological Survey warned earlier that the earthquake could lead to thousands of deaths and injuries. It also said that at least six aftershocks were felt in the area, including one with a magnitude of 5.1.

US President Joe Biden authorized an immediate response and appointed USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior official coordinating US efforts to assist Haiti. Describing the United States as a “close and enduring friend of the people of Haiti,” Biden said, the US Agency for International Development would help assess the damage and help rebuild.

A growing number of countries have offered assistance, including Argentina and Chile, which have said they are preparing to send humanitarian aid. “Once again, Haiti has been hit hard,” Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said.

I am following the latest tragedy in Haiti. My heart goes out to all those affected by the earthquake. My deepest condolences to all who lost their family and friends. UN works to support rescue and relief efforts.

– Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 14, 2021

Among those killed in the earthquake was Gabriel Fortuny, a longtime lawmaker and former mayor of Lee Kay. Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that he and many others died when his Le Manguier hotel collapsed.

Philip Botin, 37, who lives in Puerto Rico but visits his family annually in Les Caye, said his mother had been praying when the shaking started, but was able to leave the house.

Aerial view of the earthquake-destroyed Le Manguier Hotel, in Les Cayes, Haiti. photo / AP

The quake coincided with celebrations of the city’s saint, he said, adding that the hotel was likely full and the small town had more people than usual.

“We still don’t know how many people are under the rubble,” he said.

On the small island of Ile-A-Vache, about 10.5 kilometers from Les Cayes, the earthquake damaged a seaside resort popular with Haitian officials, business leaders, diplomats and humanitarian workers. Fernand Sagos, owner of the Abaca Bay Resort, said in a phone call that nine of the hotel’s 30 rooms collapsed, but he said they were vacant at the time and no one was hurt.

“They’re gone – just like that,” said Sagos.

Some pictures emerged from southern Haiti this morning where a major earthquake struck. A prayer for the people of Les Cayes, Jacmel and Jeremy. pic.twitter.com/2wTpJPoUOv

– Patrick Gaspard (@patrick Gaspard) August 14, 2021

The reports of overcrowded hospitals come as Haiti grapples with the pandemic and lacks resources to deal with it. Just last month, the country of 11 million people received the first batch of coronavirus vaccines donated by the United States, via a United Nations program for low-income countries.

The earthquake also occurred just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was killed, sending the country into political chaos. His widow, Martin Moyes, posted a message on Twitter calling for unity among Haitians: “Let us gather our shoulders together for solidarity. It is this connection that makes us strong and resilient. Courageous. I am always by your side.”

Rescue efforts were hampered by a landslide caused by the earthquake, which closed a major road linking the hard-hit towns of Jeremy and Les Cayes, according to Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency.

A man uses a sledgehammer to try to save people from the rubble of an earthquake-ravaged house in Les Cayes, Haiti today, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. photo / AP

Aid workers said gang activity in the coastal region of Martissant, west of the Haitian capital, has complicated relief efforts.

“No one can travel through the region,” Ndiaga Sik, a UNICEF spokesman in Port-au-Prince, said by phone. “We can just fly or go another route.”

Seck said information on deaths and damages has been slow to come to Port-au-Prince due to spotty internet, but UNICEF plans to send medical supplies to two hospitals in the south, in Les Cayes and Jeremy. The agency is also assessing Haitians’ immediate needs, including shelter and clean water.

Videos posted on social media showed collapsed buildings near the epicenter and people fleeing into the streets.

Viewer Appreciation: The heart-stopping first images of children, the children are saved by the care of the good Samaritans, and they step forward to save their neighbour. #Haiti#earthquake pic.twitter.com/1pYiyZ6Bdx

– Calvin Hughes (@CalvinWPLG) August 14, 2021

The earthquake was felt in Port-au-Prince and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there seemed to be no damage there.

Naomi Vernus, 34, a resident of Port-au-Prince, said she woke up from the earthquake and her bed was shaking.

“I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived through the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered that my baby and my mom were still inside. My neighbor came in and told them to do it. Get out,” Vernius said.

The aftershocks will likely last for weeks or months, said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey, with the largest recorded so far with a magnitude of 5.2.

The poor country, where many live in fragile conditions, is prone to earthquakes and hurricanes. It was hit by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in 2018 that killed more than a dozen people, and a larger 7.1-magnitude earthquake devastated most of the capital in 2010 and claimed an estimated 300,000 lives.

By early Saturday evening, the island had experienced four aftershocks over 5.0 and 8 over 4.0.

Claude Pribet, a Haitian civil engineer and geologist, warned of the danger of cracked structures.

He said, “more or less aftershocks are expected for a month,” warning that some buildings “which were severely damaged during the earthquake, could collapse during the aftershocks.”

NOAA is monitoring water and wind levels for Tropical Storm Grace, and is expected to track Florida. View real-time water level and meteorological data: https://t.co/WdkiwXggRK pic.twitter.com/KDTip1mniQ

– NOAA’s Ocean Service (@noaaocean) August 14, 2021

The National Hurricane Center forecast Tropical Storm Grace to reach Haiti late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only exacerbate the nation’s suffering.

“We are concerned that this earthquake is just another crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political deadlock after the assassination of the president, the coronavirus and food insecurity,” said Jean Wickens-Miron, a spokesperson for World Vision Haiti. .

– AP

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