Haiti Earthquake News Updates

Haiti earthquake feared to have killed hundreds

January 13 2010 : A 7.0-magnitude quake which hit south of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is feared to have killed hundreds of people across the Caribbean country.

In the space of a minute, Haiti's worst quake in two centuries wrecked the HQ of the UN mission, the presidential palace and numerous other buildings.

A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the organisation. The capital is now said to be in total darkness with many people sleeping outside amid fear of more aftershocks.

Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US said the cost of the damage could run into billions.

A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid.

The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.

The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT), the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards. Aid workers and reporters at the scene estimated the number of dead to be in the hundreds or even thousands.

As night fell, Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters: "The whole city is in darkness. You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming."

Adding that he had seen no rescue vehicles in the hillside suburb of Petionville, he said: "People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights. I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."

A French official told AFP news agency about 200 people were missing in the collapsed Hotel Montana, which is popular with tourists. There have also been some reports of looting overnight.

Earlier, bodies white with dust could be seen piled on the back of a pick-up truck as vehicles tried to ferry the injured to hospital.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.