Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct 10, 2018 / 12:17 pm
Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' charitable outreach, is providing first aid and sending material aid to the areas affected by the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti Saturday.
The earthquake occurred at 8:12 pm Oct. 6 about 12 miles from the department of Porte-de-Paix. It lasted 53 seconds and was felt in eight out of ten of the country's departments. A tsunami alert was not sent out after the earthquake.
Haiti's Civil Defense department reported Oct. 8 that 15 people died, 333 were injured, and 7,000 homes were destroyed.
Beatriz Afanador, the CRS communications officer for Hispanoamerica and Latin America, told ACI Prensa via e-mail that a CRS team had already made an assessment of the emergency and that "a truck was due to arrive Oct. 9 with supplies including tarps for temporary shelters, hygiene kits with buckets, chlorine, shovels and other items."