Haiti Earthquake Update: 12 Dead After 5.9 Magnitude Quake Hits

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti over the weekend, killing at least 12 people and injuring scores more.

Government spokesman Eddy Jackson Alexis said that 11 people have been reported dead so far, the AFP news agency reported on Oct. 7. A disaster response team was set up in the aftermath of the quake.

On Oct. 7, the Miami Herald, citing a local official, reported that 12 people had died, while adding that a number of buildings had been damaged.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck near the northernmost tip of Haiti late on Oct. 6, 2018. USGS

“Search and rescue, and assessment still ongoing,” said Jerry Chandler, the head of the country’s Civil Protection disaster response unit, according to the publication.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said that the quake was located about 12 miles northwest of Port-de-Paix. It struck at a depth of around 7 miles. At least two strong aftershocks were felt after the initial quake, the Herald reported.

President Jovenel Moise went on Twitter to urge residents to “remain calm.”

“I urge the population to keep calm, following the passage of the earthquake whose epicenter is located in the northwest coast,” he wrote in full on Twitter, according to a translation of his statement. “The [disaster] risk management system and the regional branches of the Civil Protection are on standby to assist the inhabitants of the affected areas.”

“The injured are being treated at area hospitals,” Haiti’s civil protection agency said on Oct. 6, AFP reported, adding that injuries were sustained after people panicked.

The quake was felt in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as in the Dominican Republic, also located on the island of Hispaniola.

There was no tsunami warning after the quake, the Haitian Civil Protection agency told CNN. Last month, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed hundreds of people in Indonesia.

In 2010, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the country, killing between 200,000 and 300,000 people, according to estimates. Tens of thousands of Haitians are still displaced eight years later.