Earthquake 'destroys presidential palace' in Haiti

posted on: Jan 12 2010 19:17 by The Reporter. Viewed 762 times.


A major earthquake hit the impoverished country of Haiti today, destroying buildings including the presidential palace and a hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince and burying residents under rubble.

Buildings were reduced to rubble while streets in the city were blocked and witnesses reported people fleeing in terror.

The epicenter of the quake was located inland, only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince and was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles.

It prompted a tsunami watch for parts the Caribbean, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

�Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing ... it�s total chaos,� Joseph Guyler Delva, a reporter for the Reuters news agency said. �I saw people under the rubble, and people killed,� he added.

A local employee for the US charity Food for the Poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in Port-au-Prince, a spokeswoman for the group told Reuters.

Another Food for the Poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.

Haiti TV later reported that the presidential palace had been destroyed by the earthquake. Panic-stricken residents filled the streets desperately trying to dig people from rubble or seeking missing relatives as dark fell shortly after the quake.

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