Magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook Haiti: at least 304 dead – News

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook Haiti the morning of this Saturday, as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

For its part, the Haitian Civil Protection Service updated the number of people who died at 304 after an initial assessment of 227 deaths.

“We have recorded 160 deaths in the south, 42 in Nippes, 100 in Grand’Anse and two in the north-west,” Kerry Chandler, director of civil protection, told a press conference.

In this regard, the Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry gave the order to fully mobilize “all the resources” of the Haitian Government to come to the aid of the victims and appealed for the cooperation of the population to save this new tragedy. .

The earthquake, which occurred at 8:30 a.m. local time (9:30 a.m. in Argentina), was recorded about 12 kilometers from the city of Saint-Louis du Sud, and its epicenter was 10 kilometers deep, according to the USGS report.

The Argentine government has expressed “deep regret” for the significant human and material losses suffered by the “people of Haiti as a result of a devastating earthquake”.

The tremor was felt across the country and material damage was recorded in the towns of Jérémie and Los Cayos, on the southwest peninsula of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, according to reports. witness footage, the news agency reported. AFP.

“Many houses are destroyed, there are dead and some are in hospital,” Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicenter, told the same agency.

And he added: “Everyone is on the streets now and aftershocks keep happening.”

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Pray for #Haiti very sad #earthquake Again @Red Cross pic.twitter.com/H8Y2f8ks2U

– Henry Beaucejour (@HBeaucejour) August 14, 2021

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The initial long shake was felt across much of the Caribbean, including Santiago de Cuba (about 300 kilometers from Saint-Louis-du-Sud), where many residents have left their homes, according to Rebel radio.

The earthquake damaged schools and homes in Haiti’s southwestern peninsula, according to images posted on social media by witnesses.

In dialogue with Channel 3Oscar Martínez, an Argentinian brigadist in Haiti, said that where he is, in the north-central part of the country, “the aftershock came with slight shaking.”

Moreover, he added that the official information is that “there is very serious structural damage in the south of the country and collapses of houses, buildings and churches”.

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???? FLASH – One #earthquake of magnitude of magnitude 7.2 touched #Haiti. Significant damage is to be reported. (American Center for Seismology) pic.twitter.com/2IAiKVobyF

– Médiavenir (@Mediavenir) August 14, 2021

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A few minutes after the earthquake, a 5.2 magnitude aftershock was recorded 17 kilometers from the town of Chantal, still with a hypocenter 10 kilometers deep.

According to the local portal Haiti Gazette, the earthquake was felt for several seconds in the capital of the Caribbean country, Port-au-Prince, which is about 130 kilometers from the epicenter.

“Tsunami waves that can reach one or three meters above tidal level are possible on some coasts of Haiti”, indicated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) American, without specifying the specific zones of the country.

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The story repeats itself

It must be remembered that january 2010, there was a similar earthquake that affected a large part of Port-au-Prince and neighboring towns, the consequences of which have left more than 200,000 dead and 300,000 injured.

Then, more than 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless, leaving island authorities and the international humanitarian community to face a colossal challenge in a country devoid of land registers and building codes.

The earthquake destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as administrative buildings and schools, as well as 60% of the Haitian health system.

Reconstruction of the country’s main hospital remains incomplete, and non-governmental organizations have sought to address the state’s many shortcomings.