Haiti

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on 14 August at 8:30 am local time. The earthquake occurred 13km southeast of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, in the department of Nippes, about 125km west of the capital Port-au-Prince. It occurred at a depth of 10km and was followed by a number of aftershocks – the strongest was 5.2 magnitude.?

At least 60,000 people were affected, around 1,300 have died, and over 5,000 were injured as at 16 August. The death toll is expected to rise as the search for victims trapped under rubble continues. The Government has declared a state of emergency for a month in the most affected departments.?

The most affected areas are in the departments of Sud, Nippes, and Grandv’Anse. Jérémie (Grand’Anse department) and Les Cayes (Sud department) arrondissements recorded the most infrastructure damage.?

Around 7,370 houses were destroyed and 4,850 damaged in Sud, Nippes, and Grand’Anse departments, leaving thousands of people homeless.? Severe damage to public buildings, including hospitals and schools, was reported. Hospitals that are still functional are overwhelmed and likely to lack medicine and equipment to treat all wounded patients.?

While very little information on needs is available, health (including immediate medical care), WASH, shelter, logistics, food, and mental health support are likely to be key priorities.