At least 12 have died and scores more been injured following an earthquake in the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti.
The magnitude 5.9 earthquake rocked the northern part of the country at about 8.10pm Saturday while aftershocks continued into Sunday.
The epicentre was reportedly located some 20 kilometres north-west of the city of Port-de-Paix on the island’s north coast. The quake was reportedly felt as far away as the adjoining Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba.
Numerous buildings were damaged or destroyed in the quake reportedly including homes, a church, part of a hospital and an auditorium.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said via a spokesperson that the UN stood ready to support Haiti’s government in its response.
Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince was devastated in a 2010 quake which killed at least 220,000 people and affected as many as three million. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
