More than 110,000 killed in Haiti quake
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 23, 2010 (AFP) - More than 110,000 people have
been confirmed as killed in Haiti’s devastating earthquake, the Interior
Ministry said Friday, making it the deadliest on record in the Americas.
The ministry put the toll from the disastrous January 12 quake at
111,499, a major increase from the government’s previous estimate of
75,000 people killed. Calling the damage “catastrophic,” it said in a
statement that 193,891 people were injured in the 7.0-magnitude quake
that hit the Port-au-Prince capital region.
More than 609,600 people were currently living in 500 temporary
camps, it said, updating a previous figure of 500,000 homeless.
Haitian officials have expressed fear that the death toll from the
country’s worst earthquake in over a century may surpass 200,000. The
impact was “particularly severe” in the center of the coastal city of
Jacmel, with 10 cities and towns in Southeast (Sud-Est) department
affected, the ministry said.
In West department, 20 cities and towns were impacted, with the
effect especially felt in the capital and Cabaret, Cite-Soleil,
Croix-des-Bouquets, Tabarre, Carrefour, Gressier, Leogane, Grand-Goave,
Petit-Goave, Delmas and Petion-Ville. The effect was “minimal” in Nippes
and Grand’Anse departments, it added.
There was a “pressing need” for temporary shelter and access to basic
services in the areas hit by the disaster - food, water, medical
supplies and services, sanitary supplies, body bags, mass graves,
education and psychological support, according to the ministry.
The US Geological Survey said the Haiti disaster has already gone
down in history as the most destructive on record in this region.
“That’s probably accurate that this is the most deadly quake to occur
in this part of the world,” USGS geophysicist Dale Grant told AFP. “I
don’t think we’ve seen anything like it in this area.” The previous
deadliest earthquake in the Americas was the 1970 Peru quake that left
an estimated 70,000 people dead, according to the USGS.
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