7.2 earthquake rocks Haiti, at least 29 dead

AFP – A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti on Saturday morning, causing at least 29 deaths and  widespread damage in a country that has not yet recovered from the devastating 2010 earthquake and is suffering from a political and social crisis in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The earthquake, , occurred around 8:30 am and had its epicenter 12 km from the city of Saint-Louis-du-Sud, which is located about 160 km from Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

“Many houses are destroyed, there are dead and some are in the hospital,” Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicenter , told AFP . “Everyone is out on the streets now and the aftershocks continue to occur.”

The long initial jolt was felt across much of the Caribbean Island and material damage has already been registered in several cities, according to images of published on social networks.

Religious buildings, schools and homes were damaged.

On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and several provincial cities.

More than 200,000 people died and more than 300,000 were injured in the catastrophe, which left 1.5 million people homeless.