Haiti will experience another terrible earthquake on Saturday.
Hundreds of people are killed and many are missing.
Now a tropical storm is approaching.
Saint-Louis-du-Sud - Time and again, disasters plague the desperately poor Caribbean state of Haiti.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday.
At 8:30 a.m. (local time) the earth trembled.
Severe earthquake shakes Haiti - death toll rises to over 700
The US National Weather Service (NOAA) first issued a tsunami warning for Haiti after the earthquake.
A short time later he picked it up again.
Strong aftershocks held the region breathless, reportedly causing numerous people to spend the night outside on Sunday.
+
Locals who have slept outdoors the night in sleeping bags wake up the day after an earthquake in Haiti.
© Joseph Odelyn / dpa
Meanwhile, the death toll is increasing.
As Jerry Chandler, head of Haiti's civil protection agency, announced at a press conference on Sunday, the death toll has risen to at least 724.
Hundreds of people are missing and more than 2,800 people were injured.
The earthquake caused severe damage.
Pictures show collapsed houses, hotels, schools, churches.
People are buried under it, an eyewitness from Les Cayes, one of the largest cities in the country, told the online portal
Haiti Press Network
.
Epicenter: Around 160 kilometers southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince
Magnitude of the earthquake: 7.2
More than 700 people were killed and several hundreds are missing.
"Feelings are back and chasing us": memories of catastrophe in 2010
In Haiti, however, memories of a previous catastrophe quickly come to mind.
"The feelings of January 12, 2010 are back and are chasing us," wrote Bocchit Edmond, Haiti's ambassador to the USA, on Twitter.
“Natural disasters continue to haunt Haiti.” As a result of the devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0, more than 220,000 people died and in 2010 more than a million people lost their homes as a result of the disaster.
The region in southern Haiti, in which the center of the new quake is located, was also badly hit by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 - more than 500 people died at the time.
“In the midst of a humanitarian emergency” - tropical storm heading for Haiti
The extent of the current catastrophe will probably only become apparent in the course of the salvage work in the coming days. "In the midst of a humanitarian emergency," said Leila Bourahla, the country director of the children's aid organization Save the Children. Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a month-long state of emergency in the four administrative districts affected by the quake. He appealed to the population to “show solidarity”.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm is heading straight for the Caribbean country.
"Grace" is said to hit land on Monday evening with heavy rains.
The rescue and search work should thus be made even more difficult.
"It could hit the same areas that were hit by the earthquake," warned the International Red Cross, which is deployed in the particularly affected region.
(mbr / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Joseph Odelyn / dpa