An earthquake killed at least four people and injured 36 on Tuesday in western Haiti, Civil Protection announced, as the country was already facing deadly flooding.
In the city of Jérémie, many houses were cracked, while the few houses destroyed had obviously been built without respecting building regulations.
“I don’t know what to do,” said Katiana Pierre, a 19-year-old woman who lost her husband and little sister in the disaster.
A country regularly affected by earthquakes
Three of the deceased “are members of the same family and died as a result of the collapse of their house,” said Christine Monquélé, head of Civil Protection in the Grand’Anse department.
The quake, of magnitude 4.9 according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS), occurred shortly after 5:00 am about 9 kilometers from the coast in the southwestern peninsula of this Caribbean country regularly affected by destructive earthquakes.
“We were able to provide first aid to the victims. Some patients were airlifted to the capital. We have at least one patient in critical condition who is in intensive care,” explained Soitmil Lorreus, head of emergencies at Saint-Antoine public hospital, who said that he expected to receive more casualties from remote places.
In 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake killed more than 200,000 people in the country. The quake turned the capital, Port-au-Prince, into a field of ruins and put 1.5 million people on the streets.
Source: BFM TV
