Haiti rocked by magnitude 5.5 earthquake

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Jun 6, CMC – At least three people were killed and several others injured after an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 rocked parts of Haiti early on Tuesday morning causing panic and damage to some buildings near Abricot  in the Department of Grand’Anse.

The Haitian Civil Protection said that the epicentre of the quake was located at 18.68 degrees north latitude and 74.32 degrees west longitude, dour kilometres (km) north-west of Abricot,  23 km north-west of Jérémie, 180 km northwest of Léogâne (West Department.) and 210km west of Port-au-Prince a depth of 10 km.

The three dead were found under a collapsed house where rescuers were searching for more people and Frankel Maginaire of Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency in Jeremie  said several children were treated in hospital for injuries sustained after they ran away in a panic.

Many buildings were damaged in Jérémie and in Sainte Hélène  and the authorities said that the quake had caused panic among the population.

Tuesday’s quake followed the 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sunday in the same area.

The strongest earthquake in Haiti happened in 2021  when a tremor with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country killing more than 2, 240 people.

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