Major quake rocks Haiti, many nations ready with assistance

Major quake rocks Haiti, many nations ready with assistance

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) --

A major earthquake rocked Haiti on Tuesday and "catastrophic" casualties were feared although no official reports are currently available.

The magnitude-7.0 quake, the strongest ever recorded in the area, collapsed a hospital in a hillside district of Port-au-Prince, according to local media reports.

The presidential palace, buildings of the finance and public works ministries, the parliament building and a cathedral in Port-au-Prince were also damaged.

The earthquake struck at about 4:53 p.m. local time (2153 GMT) and was centered 15 km southwest of the capital city, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake was relative shallow with its focus at a depth of only 10 km, said the USGS. It said the earthquake was followed by a tsunami seven minutes later and two aftershocks of 5.9-and 5.5-degrees respectively.

Power supplies were cut off in affected areas and communications were interrupted.

Many buildings were damaged, and frightened people could be seen in the streets -- many were searching for their families and relatives from under the rubbles with bare hands, witnesses said.

"I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions," Haiti's ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told Cable News Network.

The United Nations on Tuesday night confirmed that the Headquarters of the UN Mission in Haiti was seriously damaged along with other UN installations and "a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "very concerned" for the people of Haiti and also for many UN staff who serve in the country, a UN statement said here Tuesday.

"At this time of tragedy, I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there," the secretary-general said. "I am receiving initial reports and following developments closely."

The earthquake was also felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares the Espanola Island with Haiti.

The Dominican Republic has asked for assistance to Haiti.

"The information we have is that the situation in Haiti is difficult, so we ask Latin America and all the world to help our neighbor," said Dominican Republic presidential office spokesman Frafael Nunez.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered to assist Haiti the quake in the Caribbean country, which the United Nations said was the poorest in the Western hemisphere.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and west and ready to assist the people of Haiti," Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Hawaii that her department is gathering information about the condition on the ground in Haiti, and will do its part in providing assistance.

The Los Angeles County and an international aid group based in the area pledged assistance to Haiti.

The Los Angeles Fire Department planned to send about 60 firefighters to aid in the rescue operations. A local Catholic Relief group member said thousands of people could be killed in the earthquake.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced several hours after the quake that his government would immediately send assistance materials and a team of 50 relief experts to Port-au-Prince.

The Tsunami Warning Center of the Pacific on Tuesday issued a tsunami alert for Haiti, Cuba, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, saying potential threats exist for coastal areas within 100 km to the epicenter.

A dozen or so aftershocks have been recorded and USGS experts have warned of more follow-up quakes.

UN rushing aid to Haiti following deadly tremors

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) --

The United Nations is mobilizing its resources in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, sending its experts and supplies such as food to victims of the massive tremors in the Caribbean nation, UN officials said here Wednesday.

Josette Sheeran, who heads the UN World Food Program (WFP), said that the agency is already deploying its resources in Haiti and is airlifting an additional 86 metric tons of food -- enough for half a million emergency meals -- from its emergency hub in ElSalvador.

Additionally, WFP will provide ready-to-eat food and high-energy biscuits for those who cannot access cooking facilities following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which has severely damaged the capital, Port-au-Prince.

"We will work with the Haitian Government, with our humanitarian partners on the ground, and with governments across the world as part of a coordinated international rescue and recovery effort," Sheeran said in a statement.

For its part, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) is spearheading the health response to the earthquake.

Immediate health priorities include finding survivors pinned under rubble, treating people with major injuries and the provision of clean water and sanitation, the agency noted.

WHO is helping to collect data on the health impact of the earthquake and is also deploying a 12-member team comprising experts in mass casualty management, coordination of emergency health response and the management of dead bodies.

With buildings and infrastructure in Port-au-Prince having suffered extensive damage, "there is no doubt that we are facing a major humanitarian emergency and that a major relief effort will be required," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Wednesday morning at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Expressing gratitude to nations rushing aid to the earthquake's victims, he called for the world to "come to Haiti's aid in this hour of need."

Ban told reporters that he plans to visit Haiti as conditions permit. At the moment, he is at the UN Headquarters "to save lives" by coordinating and commanding relief operations with major countries and the international community.

Ban said that he contacted major countries, including the United States, and the international community to engage relief operations in the country, where the communication system broke down and only "limited channels" were available to connect the island country with the outside world.

Ban said that he is scheduled to discuss what more can be done for Haiti with his Special Envoy, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, on Wednesday morning.

John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and coordinator of emergency relief operations, said that his office would soon launch a major flash appeal for funds and had already released 10 million U.S. dollars in emergency aid.

Editor: yan

16 UN staffers confirmed dead in Haiti: Ban

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) --

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday that 16 UN staffers were confirmed dead in Haiti in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

The 16 include 11 Brazilians, one Argentine, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian officer, said Ban.

Editor: Anne Tang

"Scale of catastrophe in Haiti is very high," says UN peacekeeping chief

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) --

The United Nations deals with humanitarian crises all the time but the devastating earthquake in Haiti has stricken especially close to home, said the head of UN peacekeeping forces Alain Le Roy here Wednesday.

With the number of fatalities among UN staff members rising, LeRoy said the emotion is "extremely high."

The UN has confirmed 10 staff members dead but the figure could end up being "the highest number of fatalities in the United Nations," said Le Roy.

At least 150 UN staff went missing, including the mission chief Hedi Annabi and his deputy special representative Luiz Carlos da Costa, after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks hit on Tuesday.

"This is one of the most horrible tragedies for a UN peacekeeping mission," said Le Roy. "We are receiving volunteers from other UN missions, who are offering their services."

Susana Malcorra, head of the Department of Field Support, told reporters that UN staff members are experiencing a "difficult moment."

The UN set up a hotline on Tuesday night to answer questions from family members of UN staff and also established counseling services in Haiti, she said.

"We are focused on making sure we can get people out (of the rubble) and getting them to have the right level of medical treatment ... but the tensions are there," she said.

A large number of buildings in the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince, have been destroyed with layers of floors pan caked on top of one another. The UN mission's headquarters at the Christopher Hotel, a five-story building built in the early 1960s, was also completely leveled and it is believed Annabi and Carlos da Costa are still under the rubble.

The UN has been quickly mobilizing its resources, sending experts and emergency supplies to the Caribbean nation. Communication lines are down and many roads are impassable but the airport remains virtually undamaged.

Editor: yan

"Scale of catastrophe in Haiti is very high," says UN peacekeeping chief

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) --

With the number of fatalities among UN staff members rising, LeRoy said the emotion is "extremely high."

The UN has confirmed 10 staff members dead but the figure could end up being "the highest number of fatalities in the United Nations," said Le Roy.

"This is one of the most horrible tragedies for a UN peacekeeping mission," said Le Roy. "We are receiving volunteers from other UN missions, who are offering their services."

Susana Malcorra, head of the Department of Field Support, told reporters that UN staff members are experiencing a "difficult moment."

The UN set up a hotline on Tuesday night to answer questions from family members of UN staff and also established counseling services in Haiti, she said.

"We are focused on making sure we can get people out (of the rubble) and getting them to have the right level of medical treatment ... but the tensions are there," she said.

Editor: yan

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.