Haiti: Earthquake - Oct 2018

A 5.9-magnitude- earthquake occurred on 6 October 2018 at 20:12 Atlantic Standard Time (AST) at a depth of 15.3 kilometres deep. According to the Haitian government’s Technical Unit of Seismology, its epicentre was located at sea in the Turtle Canal, about twenty kilometres west-northwest of Port-de-Paix in the North-West Department. Many aftershocks were felt between Saturday, 6 October 2018 and Monday, 8 October 2018. The DPC reported 17 deaths: 9 in Port-de-Paix, 1 in Saint-Louis North (North-West) and 7 in Gros Morne (Artibonite). Additionally, at least 421 people were injured, and many of them were taken to hospitals in the North-West, Artibonite and North departments for treatment. According to the government’s initial emergency assessments, 31,132 persons need humanitarian assistance due to the partial or total destruction of their houses. In the department of Artibonite, 42 institutional buildings such as schools and churches are either heavily or slightly damaged in Gros Morne, and 4r national and private schools are destroyed in Pilate in the North department. (IFRC, 17 Oct 2018)