Heidi was hit by a strong earthquake, deaths and extensive damage – liberation

Eleven years after the earthquake that devastated the island, there is chaos in Haiti again. At 8:30 a.m. local time (3:30 p.m. Paris time) on Saturday, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake 12 km southwest of St. Louis-to-Sud, about 160 km southwest of the capital Port-au. Prince, according to data from the American Geophysical Institute (USGS). It killed at least 29 people, according to Jerry Chandler, the country’s minimum readiness director. In all, 17 deaths were reported in the Grand-Ann’s field, 9 in the city of Cayce and 3 in the Knips department, where the quake’s epicenter is located, in southwestern France.

The tsunami alert was soon lifted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “There are deaths, I’m sure, but I do not have an accurate estimate yet”Director of Emergency Preparedness Jerry Chandler said. Prime Minister Ariel Henry was on his way to the National Emergency Surgery Center in the capital and is expected to speak at the press conference.

The long shock was felt across the country. Significant material damage has already been seen in several cities, according to pictures of witnesses on the island’s southwestern peninsula, which have been posted on social media. Residents say religious buildings, schools and homes were damaged in the quake. Journalist, according to Friends Dowell “General Hospital in Les Case overflows” Due to the arrival of the injured. One hotel in particular collapsed.

“A piece of wall fell on my back”

In videos shared online, residents filmed the ruins of various concrete buildings, including a church, during a ceremony Saturday morning in the town of Les Angloys, 200 km southwest of Port-au-Prince. “I was inside my house when it started to tremble. I was near a window and saw all the objects falling down.”, Cristella St. Hilayer, 21, who lives near the epicenter of the quake, told AFP. “A piece of the wall fell on my back, but I was not hurt much”, The teen continued. “Many houses were completely destroyed.”

Still remembers the January 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital and many provincial cities of the poorest country in the United States. The disaster killed more than 200,000 people and injured more than 300,000.

More than one and a half million Haitians have lost their homes and put the authorities and the international humanitarian community ahead of the biggest challenge of reconstruction in a country with no land registration or building codes. Unable to meet this reconstruction challenge, Haiti, which continues to be hit by hurricanes, has been mired in a severe socio-political crisis for ten years.

Update at 7pm.: First assessment given by the authorities.