Earthquake Strikes Northwest Haiti, Killing at Least 11

An earthquake that struck off the northern coast of Haiti late Saturday killed at least 11 people and injured more than a hundred when several buildings collapsed, officials said.

The magnitude-5.9 quake was centered about 12 miles west-northwest of the coastal town of Port-de-Paix, at a depth of about 7¼ miles, the United States Geological Survey said.

The police chief for the northwest region, Jackson Hilaire, said at least seven people were killed and more than 100 injured in Port-de-Paix.

Four others died in and around the town of Gros-Morne to the south, including a boy struck as a building fell, said Mayor Jean Renel Tide.

The tremor was one of the strongest to hit Haiti since a 7.0-magnitude quake struck near the capital, Port-au-Prince, in 2010, killing tens of thousands of people.

In a post on Twitter, President Jovenel Moïse urged people to remain calm after the civil protection agency reported panic in northern towns.
The agency said Port-de-Paix, Gros-Morne, the town of Chansolme and the island of Tortuga were some of the most badly damaged areas. Some houses were destroyed, it said.

The newspaper Le Nouvelliste said that one person was killed when an auditorium collapsed in Gros-Morne and that detainees were released from a police holding cell that was damaged.

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