PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – The Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) is reporting Saturday that several houses have collapsed and people may have died or seriously injured after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked the French-speaking country.
The authorities said the quake occurred at 8;29 a.m. (local time) followed 20 minutes later by another, with a magnitude of 5.2.
The epicentre was located 20km North-North-West of Cavaillon, 42km South-East of Jérémie, 78km South-West of Miragoâne and 57km south-west of the capital, Port au Prince.
The earthquakes were felt in many departments across Haiti and so far damage has been reported in Jérémie, where houses in the south are reported to have collapsed.
According to the DPC in relation to these two earthquakes, several houses collapsed and that people could have died. Phone communications are difficulties.
The city of Les Cayes was severely hit by the earthquake. Several deaths and many injured have already been recorded. A hotel and several houses collapsed, according to residents of the city.
“Remember that after earthquakes there are always aftershocks. Southerners do not stay in or near anything that might fall,” said the DPC.
“The first images that reach me are terrible. The earthquake caused a lot of damage in the Great South. Let us hope that there is not much loss of human life,” Renald Lubérice, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers said. (CMC)
