Earthquake today: 4.9 magnitude quake strikes southern Haiti; 4 dead, many injured
Earthquake today: A 4.9 magnitude of earthquake hit southern Haiti on Tuesday, leaving four dead and dozens injured
PremiumAn earthquake of magnitude 4.9 struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and wounding 36 others, authorities said. The quake struck before dawn near the southwestern coastal city of Jeremie at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“I thought the whole house was going to fall on top of me," Eric Mpitabakana, a World Food Program official in Jeremie, was quoted as saying.
At least two houses collapsed in the earthquake, and a key route that connects Jeremie and Les Cayes was blocked. According to the reports, three deceased were found under a collapsed house.
The rescue operation is underway. Several children have been hospitalised with injuries they received after they panicked and ran.
A crowd of people gathered around one home that collapsed as they tried to search for survivors in the rubble.
Claude Prepetit, a geologist and engineer with Haiti's Bureau of Mines and Energy, said that smaller earthquakes that occurred earlier this year in southern Haiti led to the bigger one that struck Tuesday.
The earthquake struck nearly two years after a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake claimed over 2,200 lives in southern Haiti. Les Cayes, which suffered the brunt of the previous catastrophe, continues to house displaced individuals from the August tragedy who are yet to find permanent shelter.
“Everyone ran outside with their children, their babies," a survivor said. “There were some houses that collapsed."
(With agency inputs)
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