A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday morning around 8:30 am local time (12:30 pm GMT), the American Seismological Center (USGS) said. A new report now shows 1,419 dead and more than 6,900 injured.
The earthquake killed several people, the country’s civil protection director Jerry Chandler told AFP, who did not yet have a “precise assessment” to provide. Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited the National Emergency Operations Center in Port-au-Prince.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday, August 14, 2021. Damage was reported in the south, particularly in Les Cayes and Jérémie. People have been killed or injured, houses have collapsed. pic.twitter.com/3iqeJ9EWq2
– La Diaspora Magazine (@journalladiaspo) August 14, 2021
Religious buildings, schools and homes were damaged in the earthquake. In videos shared online, residents filmed the damage.
On January 12, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale devastated the Haitian capital and several provincial towns. More than 200,000 people died and more than 300,000 were injured in the disaster that left 1.5 million people homeless.
Since 2019, Haiti has been embroiled in an economic and political crisis. The president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated on July 7.
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