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7.0 earthquake wreaks widespread devastaton and death in Haiti
New CARICOM Chairman Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said he will communicate with the various heads to discuss humanitarian aid to Haiti, following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the island on Tuesday.
Skerrit described the earthquake as a gut wrenching situation. “All of us know of the dire situation which has existed in Haiti and for this major earthquake to happen is really sad news for us in the Caribbean Community. I have no doubt that we will put our resources together as small as they are now, to help Haiti and certainly energize the international community to mobilize resources,” he said
Meantime Haiti’s neighbour has expressed their sadness at the “catastrophic” earthquake in Haiti and have pledged to help. In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, President Leonel Fernández said his government was at the ready to send assistance to help its neighbour overcome a “real tragedy”. A government spokesman said a Dominican Air Force plane was ready to pick up quake victims and that it was sending a team of sniffer dogs to search for victims in the rubble.
It is feared that many people have been killed by the earthquake that hit Haiti, devastating the capital and other areas.
The United Nations mission to Haiti has been particularly badly hit; the head of the peacekeeping effort is missing and soldiers from several countries are among the casualties. A UN official in New York said this could be the worst crisis for the Organization since the bombing of its building in Baghdad in 2003.
An international relief effort is gathering pace, with rescuers and medical teams preparing to fly into Haiti.
The presidential palace was also badly damaged, but the Haitian ambassador to Mexico said President Rene Preval had survived.
Haiti’s neighbours also felt the earthquake last night. In the north-east area of Portland in Jamaica, people reported feeling tremors while In the Bahamas, government reported high tides at its coastal areas facing the area.
South-eastern Cuba, north-eastern Jamaica and Haiti all sit on the same fault line in the western part of the Caribbean Sea.
