DEATH TOLL FROM EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI RISES TO 1,297 AS HOSPITALS OVERWHELMED

Mon 16 August 2021:

According to the country’s civil protection service, the Haitian government declared a state of emergency after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday, killing at least 1,297 people and injuring more than 5,700.

The epicenter of Saturday’s quake was 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northeast of Saint-Louis-du-Sud at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

The US Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami alert in the region warning that waves could rise 3 meters (9.8 feet). The alert was later lifted.

A magnitude-5.2 aftershock was felt and more aftershocks are expected in the coming days, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Officials said the USGS recorded nine aftershocks since the main earthquake.

Videos posted on social media offer a glimpse of the widespread destruction after the earthquake. One from Les Cayes shows a street strewn with rubble and what is left of a number of buildings. Dust fills the air.

The country, which has suffered huge devastation and tremors, has called for international help.

“When it comes to medical needs, this is our biggest urgency. We have started to send medications and medical personnel to the facilities that are affected,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry said. “For the people who need urgent special care, we have evacuated a certain number of them, and we will evacuate some more today and tomorrow.”

The state of emergency is in effect for the Western Department, Southern Department, Nippes and Grand’Anse.

The challenge facing Haiti has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, a severe economic downturn aggravated by fierce gang violence, and a political crisis that has engulfed the troubled nation after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7.

Churches, hotels, hospitals and schools were badly damaged or destroyed, while the walls of a prison were rent open by the violent shudders that convulsed Haiti. Some 13,694 houses were destroyed, the civil protection agency said, suggesting the toll could rise further.

One of the world’s most deadly earthquakes in the last century occurred in Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. 

Saturday’s quake was far less damaging than the one in 2010. A United Nations reconnaissance mission to the affected areas found “less significant damages than initially expected,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday.

According to official figures, 316,000 people died and 300,000 were injured in the magnitude-7.0 quake that occurred in the south of the country.

About 1.3 million people were left homeless in the aftermath.

The earthquake is just the latest challenge for the struggling country, which is still dealing with fallout from the 2010 quake. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last month, which has not yet been solved or properly explained, has added further instability to a country in crisis.

———————————————————————————————————————-

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent