At least 227 dead, 'hundreds' injured and missing in devastating Haiti earthquake

© Facebook / Many Hands for Haiti (MH4H) 7912A scene from earthquake-hit Haiti, August 14, 2021

At least 227 people have died following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Haiti. The death toll is a provisional figure and will likely rise, as buildings in several towns have been leveled.

Haitian civil protection official Jerry Chandler announced the death toll in a press conference on Saturday, hours after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the island nation's southern peninsula.

The death toll will likely rise as search and rescue efforts continue. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a red alert for estimated casualties, stating that "high casualties are probable and the disaster is likely widespread."

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has declared a state of emergency for one month, and said earlier that he would mobilize "all the resources" of his administration to help, while, in Washington, President Joe Biden has authorized a US response under USAID Administrator Samantha Power.

Buildings collapsed and streets were littered with debris in several Haitian towns, while the shockwave was felt as far afield as Cuba and Jamaica.

Haiti earthquake: At least 304 deaths and hundreds injured after 7.2 magnitude quake

The death toll in Haiti has risen to 304 after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country.

At least 1,800 others have also been injured as rescue workers pull people to safety from the rubble.

Prime minister Ariel Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the country and said some towns were almost completely razed after the quake on Saturday.

He said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damages was known.

Mr Henry said: "The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble.

"We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people."

The epicentre of the quake was about 78 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said.

The prime minister said the International Red Cross and hospitals in unaffected areas were helping to care for the injured, and appealed to Haitians for unity.

Mr Henry also said he wanted "structured solidarity" to avoid the confusion after the 2010 earthquake, when aid was slow to reach residents and as many as 300,000 were killed.

Among those killed in Saturday's quake was Gabriel Fortune, a longtime lawmaker and former mayor of Les Cayes. He died along with several others when his hotel, Le Manguier, collapsed, the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported.

Philippe Boutin, 37, who lives in Puerto Rico but visits his family every year in Les Cayes, said his mother was saying morning prayers when the shaking began, but was able to leave the house.

The earthquake happened during the festivities to celebrate the town's patron saint. Mr Boutin said the hotel was probably full and the small town had more people than usual.

"We still don't know how many people are under the rubble," he said.

Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, said she was woken up by the earthquake which shook her bed.

She said: "I woke up and didn't have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbour went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street."

M 8.1 - South Sandwich Islands region

2021-08-12 18:35:20 (UTC)58.416°S 25.321°W48.3 km depth

Seismic observations suggest this earthquake is part of a complex seismic sequence. Our current interpretation is that this earthquake is the mainshock to a M7.5 that occurred ~170s earlier. The location, depth, mechanism, and magnitude of this earthquake is preliminary and less well constrained than typical events of this size due to interference from the preceding M7.5 foreshock. Research is being conducted on this sequence to better understand the faulting geometry and details of rupture. This analysis will take time and our understanding will likely evolve. This page will be updated as we learn more about these interesting events.