Death Toll Soars from Haiti Earthquake; U.S. Deploys Search and Rescue Teams

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The U.S. deployed search and rescue teams to help find survivors among the debris of collapsed buildings in Haiti as the death toll soars from Saturday’s massive earthquake.

At least 1,297 people were killed after the 7.2-magnitude quake struck off Haiti’s coast, according to the nation’s civil protection agency. The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, and Tropical Storm Grace is forecast to hit the crisis-prone nation on Monday.

Pwoteksyon sivil@Pwoteksyonsivil
15.08.2021:. #Haïti #Séisme #Miseàjour| le bilan partiel de la journée du séisme du 14 août 2021 s’élève désormais à 1297 morts‼️
✅ 1054 dans le Sud
✅ 122 dans les Nippes
✅ 119 dans la Grand‘Anse
✅ 2 dans le Nord-Ouest
#Haïti
Sent via Twitter for iPhone.
View original tweet.

The quake hit 7.5 miles northeast of the town of Saint-Luis du Sud on the country’s southwestern Tiburon Peninsula.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a state of emergency, and pledged to “mobilize all the resources of my administration to help victims.”

Update: at the request of Haiti’s government, @USAID has deployed an urban search & rescue team to join our #Haiti earthquake disaster response team. This 65-person deployment brings 52,000 pounds of specialized tools, equipment & medical supplies to assist in search operations.
— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) August 15, 2021

The quake and the aftershocks damaged churches, hotels, hospitals and homes. It also caused a large landslide that blocked the main road from Les Cayes to Jeremie on the southwestern tip of the island. The nation was still in shock following the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

The tremor took place on the same fault line that caused the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in Haiti, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“Today’s earthquake is yet another setback for Haiti on top of political instability and worsening violence, Covid-19 and rising food insecurity,” Cara Buck, the acting Haiti director of the aid agency Mercy Corps, said in a statement from Port-au-Prince.

–With assistance from Cyntia Barrera Diaz and Andrea Navarro

Photograph: Residents survey a damaged building following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. The U.S. deployed search and rescue teams to help find survivors among the debris of collapsed buildings in Haiti as the death toll soars from Saturday’s massive earthquake.