*At least 35 Aftershocks have hit Haiti after massive Earthquake
Pastor Dale Morgan
At least 35 Aftershocks have hit Haiti after massive Earthquake*
* From correspondents in Port Au Prince
* From: AFP
* January 13, 2010 9:55AM
THE Caribbean island of Haiti has been rocked by at least 35 aftershocks
measuring 5.9 to 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale after being struck by
a huge 7.0-magnitude quake, US geologists said.
The powerful quake that hit Haiti was a "catastrophe of major
proportions'', the country's ambassador to the United States, Raymond
Joseph, said.
An AFP correspondent said the ground shook for more than a minute.
He said one three-story building was toppled and a tractor was already
at the scene trying to dig out victims as people fled onto the streets
in panic.
The up-scale area is home to many foreign diplomats and members of a
major United Nations mission to the country.
A tsunami alert was immediately issued for the Caribbean region after
the earthquake struck, in place for Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and the
Dominican Republic, with the first waves predicted to hit Haiti shortly.
Already the poorest nation in the Americas, Haiti has been hit by a
series of disasters recently and was battered by hurricanes in 2008.