7.2 magnitude earthquake hits Haiti; at least 304 killed

By EVENS SANON and TAMMY WEBBER

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A almighty magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwestern Haiti connected Saturday, sidesplitting astatine slightest 304 radical and injuring astatine slightest 1,800 others arsenic buildings tumbled into rubble. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said helium was rushing assistance to areas wherever towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

The epicenter of the quake was astir 125 kilometers (78 miles) westbound of the superior of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and wide harm was reported successful the hemisphere’s poorest nations arsenic a tropical tempest besides bore down.

Haiti’s civilian extortion bureau said connected Twitter that the decease toll stood astatine 304, astir successful the country’s south. Rescue workers and bystanders were capable to propulsion galore radical to information from the rubble. The bureau said injured radical were inactive being delivered to hospitals.

Henry declared a one-month authorities of exigency for the full state and said helium would not inquire for planetary assistance until the grade of the damages was known. He said immoderate towns were astir wholly razed and the authorities had radical successful the coastal municipality of Les Cayes to assistance program and coordinate the response.

“The astir important happening is to retrieve arsenic galore survivors arsenic imaginable nether the rubble,” said Henry. “We person learned that the section hospitals, successful peculiar that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”

He said the International Red Cross and hospitals successful unaffected areas were helping to attraction for the injured, and appealed to Haitians for unity.

“The needs are enormous. We indispensable instrumentality attraction of the injured and fractured, but besides supply food, aid, impermanent structure and intelligence support,” helium said.

Later, arsenic helium boarded a level bound for Les Cayes, Henry said helium wanted “structured solidarity” to guarantee the effect was coordinated to debar the disorder that followed the devastating 2010 earthquake, erstwhile assistance was dilatory to scope residents aft arsenic galore arsenic 300,000 were killed.

U.S. President Joe Biden authorized an contiguous effect and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power arsenic the elder authoritative coordinating the U.S effort to assistance Haiti. USAID volition assistance to measure harm and assistance successful rebuilding, said Biden, who called the United States a “close and enduring person to the radical of Haiti.”

A increasing fig of countries offered help, including Argentina and Chile, which said it was preparing to nonstop humanitarian aid. ″Once again, Haiti has been deed by adversity,″ Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said.

Among those killed successful the earthquake was Gabriel Fortuné, a longtime lawmaker and erstwhile politician of Les Cayes. He died on with respective others erstwhile his hotel, Le Manguier, collapsed, the Haitian paper Le Nouvelliste reported.

Philippe Boutin, 37, who lives successful Puerto Rico but visits his household annually successful Les Cayes, said his parent was saying greeting prayers erstwhile the shaking began, but was capable to permission the house.

The earthquake, helium said, coincided with the festivities to observe the town’s patron saint, adding that the edifice apt was afloat and the tiny municipality had much radical than usual.

“We inactive don’t cognize however galore radical are nether the rubble,” helium said.

On the tiny land of Ile-a-Vache, astir 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometers) from Les Cayes, the quake damaged a seaside edifice fashionable with Haitian officials, concern leaders, diplomats and humanitarian workers. Fernand Sajous, proprietor of the Abaka Bay Resort, said by telephone that 9 of the hotel’s 30 rooms collapsed, but helium said they were vacant astatine the clip and nary 1 was injured.

“They disappeared — conscionable similar that,” Sajous said.

The reports of overwhelmed hospitals travel arsenic Haiti struggles with the pandemic and a deficiency of resources to woody with it. Just past month, the state of 11 cardinal radical received its archetypal batch of U.S.-donated coronavirus vaccines, via a United Nations programme for low-income countries.

The earthquake besides struck conscionable implicit a period aft President Jovenel Moïse was killed, sending the state into governmental chaos. His widow, Martine Moïse, posted a connection connected Twitter calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s enactment our shoulders unneurotic to bring solidarity. It is this transportation that makes america beardown and resilient. Courage. I americium ever by your side.”

Rescue efforts were hampered by a landslide triggered by the quake that blocked a large roadworthy connecting the hard-hit towns of Jeremie and Les Cayes, according to Haiti’s civilian extortion agency.

Humanitarian workers said pack enactment successful the seaside territory of Martissant, conscionable westbound of the Haitian capital, besides was complicating alleviation efforts.

“Nobody tin question done the area,” Ndiaga Seck, a UNICEF spokesperson successful Port-au-Prince, said by phone. “We tin lone alert implicit oregon instrumentality different route.”

Seck said accusation astir deaths and harm was dilatory coming to Port-au-Prince due to the fact that of spotty net service, but UNICEF planned to nonstop aesculapian supplies to 2 hospitals successful the south, successful Les Cayes and Jeremie. The bureau was besides assessing Haitians urgent needs including structure and cleanable water.

Videos posted to societal media showed collapsed buildings adjacent the epicenter and radical moving into the streets.

People successful Port-au-Prince felt the tremor and galore rushed into the streets successful fear, though determination did not look to beryllium harm there.

Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old nonmigratory of Port-au-Prince, said she was jolted awake by the earthquake and that her furniture was shaking.

“I woke up and didn’t person clip to enactment my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and each I could bash was run. I aboriginal remembered my 2 kids and my parent were inactive inside. My neighbour went successful and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said.

Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the USGS, said aftershocks apt volition proceed for weeks oregon months, with the largest truthful acold registering a magnitude 5.2.

The impoverished country, wherever galore unrecorded successful tenuous circumstances, is susceptible to earthquakes and hurricanes. It was struck by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake successful 2018 that killed much than a twelve people, and a vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake that damaged overmuch of the superior successful 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people.

By aboriginal evening Saturday, the land had experienced 4 aftershocks supra 5.0 and 8 supra 4.0.

Claude Prepetit, a Haitian civilian technologist and geologist, warned of the information from cracked structures.

“More oregon little intensive aftershocks are to beryllium expected for a month,” helium said, cautioning that immoderate buildings, “badly damaged during the earthquake, tin illness during aftershocks..”

The National Hurricane Center has forecasted that Tropical Storm Grace volition scope Haiti precocious Monday nighttime oregon aboriginal Tuesday morning.

Humanitarian assistance groups said the earthquake would lone worsen the nation’s suffering.

“We’re acrophobic that this earthquake is conscionable 1 much situation connected apical of what the state is already facing, including the worsening governmental stalemate aft the president’s assassination, COVID and nutrient insecurity,” said Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesperson for World Vision Haiti.

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Associated Press writer Evens Sanon reported this communicative successful Port-au-Prince and AP writer Tammy Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan. AP writers Josh Boak successful Washington, Trenton Daniel successful New York and Regina Garcia Cano successful Mexico City contributed to this report.