Haiti Earth Quake|Tsunami in Haiti|Earth Quake 7.0
Haiti Earth Quake|Tsunami in Haiti
|Tsunami Warning is given|Strong Earth Quake 7.0
Port-au-Prince - A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti on Tuesday, toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic, officials and AFP witnesses said.
A tsunami alert was immediately issued for the Caribbean region after the earthquake struck at 2153 GMT.
An AFP correspondent said the ground shook for more than a minute. Just minutes later two aftershocks measuring both 5.9 and 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale hit, US officials said.
"I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions," the country's ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN television.
The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake was initially measured at 7.3 on the scale and struck 16km from the capital Port-Au-Prince, and 27km from Petionville.
An AFP correspondent in Petionville said one three-storey building, housing two offices, was toppled, and a tractor was already at the scene trying to dig out victims as people fled onto the streets in panic.
The upmarket area is home to many foreign diplomats and members of a major United Nations mission to the country.
The temblor struck at a depth of 10km, the USGS said.
A tsunami warning was in place for Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, with the first waves predicted to hit Haiti shortly. - AFP
Haiti Earth Quake|Tsunami in Haiti
|Tsunami Warning is given|Strong Earth Quake 7.0
|Tsunami Warning is given|Strong Earth Quake 7.0
Port-au-Prince - A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti on Tuesday, toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic, officials and AFP witnesses said.
A tsunami alert was immediately issued for the Caribbean region after the earthquake struck at 2153 GMT.
An AFP correspondent said the ground shook for more than a minute. Just minutes later two aftershocks measuring both 5.9 and 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale hit, US officials said.
"I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions," the country's ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN television.
The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake was initially measured at 7.3 on the scale and struck 16km from the capital Port-Au-Prince, and 27km from Petionville.
An AFP correspondent in Petionville said one three-storey building, housing two offices, was toppled, and a tractor was already at the scene trying to dig out victims as people fled onto the streets in panic.
The upmarket area is home to many foreign diplomats and members of a major United Nations mission to the country.
The temblor struck at a depth of 10km, the USGS said.
A tsunami warning was in place for Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, with the first waves predicted to hit Haiti shortly. - AFP
Haiti Earth Quake|Tsunami in Haiti
|Tsunami Warning is given|Strong Earth Quake 7.0
