The Caribbean country Haiti was hit by an earthquake on Saturday morning.
The US has now sent experts to the island.
News ticker.
On Saturday morning there was a severe earthquake with many victims in Haiti
(see first report).
There are now said to be at least 227 fatalities
(see update from August 14, 9:40 p.m.).
USA assures Haiti of their help
(see update from August 14, 9:40 p.m.)
.
This news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from August 14th, 9:40 p.m.:
The earth does not come to rest in Haiti.
The country is repeatedly shaken by aftershocks.
After an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 originally destroyed many buildings and claimed lives, there were multiple aftershocks with a magnitude of 5.2, according to the USGS.
The USA * is not only closely following the earthquake in Haiti, it is also sending aid to the poor and severely battered country.
"Our experts are already on site to assess damage and needs," wrote the head of the US agency for development cooperation and emergency aid USAID, Samantha Powers, on Twitter on Saturday.
One now wants to react quickly.
US President Joe Biden had been informed of the situation in Haiti and asked that USAID coordinate the US response.
The death toll has now risen to at least 227.
Hundreds more people are still missing or injured, the civil defense announced on Saturday, according to AFP.
Fatalities after severe earthquake in Haiti
Update from August 14, 7:53 p.m.:
According to the Haitian Press Network, the Haitian civil defense has confirmed that there are 29 fatalities.
Accordingly, 17 people died in the southwest department Grand-Anse southwest and twelve in the department Sud.
Among the dead was former Senator Jean Gabriel Fortuné, who, according to
Gazette Haiti, was
buried under the rubble of his hotel in the city of Cayes.
Interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry described the situation on Twitter as "dramatic" and announced that the government would declare a state of emergency.
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The Herz-Jesu-Kirche is damaged after an earthquake.
Several people were killed in a severe earthquake in Haiti on Saturday.
© Delot Jean / dpa
Earthquake in Haiti: the head of the disaster control assumes 29 deaths
Update from August 14, 7:14 p.m.:
The disaster control chief Jerry Chandler announced that at least 29 fatalities can be expected.
According to the USGS, the epicenter of the quake was around 160 kilometers southwest of the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince.
Update from August 14, 6:36 p.m.:
The situation in Haiti is still opaque.
But many public media in Haiti reported several dead and injured after the severe earthquake on Saturday morning.
The
Gazette Haiti
reported on Saturday afternoon of at least five deaths, including two children aged seven and nine in the city of Aquinas, and many injured.
Earthquake in Haiti: hospitals are overloaded
An eyewitness from Les Cayes in the southwest of the island told the
Haiti Press Network
that houses and hotels had collapsed and that people were buried under the rubble.
According to the
Gazette,
residents of the Nippes department, in which the epicenter of the quake was located, sent
an SOS call to the authorities because the hospitals were overloaded.
Annalisa Lombardo, Welthungerhilfe's country director, also reports that hospitals are at their limit.
There is no official information yet, but one can expect that, Lombardo told the German Press Agency on Saturday.
The hospital is apparently overwhelmed by the number of injuries.
One is still trying to find out how many people are affected.
Earthquake in Haiti: Caring for the victims becomes difficult
Lombardo himself was in the capital Port-au-Prince during the quake, which is said to have occurred around 8:30 a.m. local time. The walls of her house shook badly and she heard people screaming in the neighborhood. The memory of the severe earthquake in 2010, at the center of which was Port-au-Princ, is still very fresh. However, there should not have been any collapsed buildings there. The north of the country is said to have been largely spared, but the earthquake was still felt there, they say.
The aid organization is now trying to get more information and to be able to penetrate the affected areas.
They are trying to get information to better understand the situation on the ground.
They would have to ensure that those affected were provided with the most important things - water, food, shelter - for the first 24 hours.
"We focus on the people who have lost their homes," said Lombardo.
Welthungerhilfe does not work in the health sector.
However, care could prove difficult.
A bridge into the area is said to have been destroyed.
In addition, gangs are shooting at passing cars outside of Port-au-Prince.
"That is exactly the definition of a complex crisis."
Earthquake shakes Haiti: US authorities call red alert regarding fatalities
First report from August 14, 4:25 p.m .:
Saint-Louis-du-Sud - The Caribbean island state Haiti * was shaken by a severe earthquake on Saturday morning.
The US agency USGS gave the magnitude of the quake as 7.2.
According to initial information from the authorities, several people have died.
A more precise number of fatalities is not initially available, said civil protection chief Jerry Chandler on Saturday the AFP news agency.
The national crisis team is activated.
USGS considers a high number of victims to be possible, according to the dpa.
She called red alert on Saturday with a view to possible fatalities.
The agency also referred to the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.
The current quake shook the same peninsula in Haiti.
Earthquake in Haiti: Magnitude is given as 7.2 on the Richter scale
The epicenter of Saturday's quake was in southern Haiti.
The earthquake, which is 7.2 on the Richter scale, was also felt in the Dominican Republic *, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
According to the Dominican newspaper
Diaro Libre
, panic broke out among the population there.
As can be seen on the first videos on the Internet from the region, houses, churches and schools were damaged in various places.
In addition, the authorities issued a tsunami warning that has now been lifted.
The US National Weather Service advised people on Saturday, according to dpa, to remain cautious.
In the coastal areas near the earthquake, there could still be minor fluctuations in sea level of up to 30 centimeters, it said.
2010 earthquake in Haiti: more than 200,000 people died
The Caribbean country is repeatedly shaken by earthquakes.
In 2010 an earthquake caused considerable damage.
More than 200,000 people lost their lives at that time.
300,000 were injured.
Around 1.5 million people lost their homes.
(tel / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Delot Jean / dpa