Haiti 5.9M Quake: At Least 11 Dead, Flooding Downpours Complicate Efforts, Missing Toll Soars To 5,000 In Indonesia Quake And Tsunami

Deadly earthquake rocks Haiti; Flooding downpours may complicate recovery efforts

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Haiti late Saturday, killing at least 10 people.

Over 130 people were injured, Haiti's civil protection agency said on Twitter.

Buildings have reportedly been destroyed by the temblor, which struck 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Port-de-Paix, Haiti, shortly after 8:00 p.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Port-de-Paix is the capital of the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti and is home to over 460,000 people. 

A statement issued by Haiti's civil protection agency said that houses have been destroyed or damaged in Port-de-Paix, Gros-Morne, Chansolme and Turtle Island. The Saint-Michel church in Plaisance is among the buildings damaged.

Part of a hospital and an auditorium have also collapsed, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

People are being urged to remain calm as disaster response teams sort through the rubble in search of survivors.

Based on local media reports across Northern #Haiti, there is a scene of chaos in the area. There is significant infrastructural damage, and by morning the severity will become more clear for the Haitian community of Gros-Mourne, which is home to about 200,000 people. pic.twitter.com/bvaavGLHeu
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) October 7, 2018

This is the one of the strongest earthquakes to rattle Haiti since the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, according to BBC News.

The weather will not cooperate for cleanup and recovery efforts, with downpours expected to douse the affected area each day into Tuesday. The downpours could be heavy enough to trigger flash flooding.

Haiti earthquake: At least 11 dead and dozens injured after tremor hits north of country

At least 11 people have been killed after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck northern Haiti late on Saturday.

The quake, which was one of the strongest to hit the Caribbean nation since a major tremor in 2010 killed more than 200,000 people, sparked an overnight rush to help towns in the impoverished Caribbean country affected by the shockwave.

Police said at least seven people died and more than 100 were injured in Port-de-Paix on the northern coast near the epicentre of the earthquake, which struck at a depth of 11.7 kilometres (7.3 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

Another four people were killed in and around the town of Gros-Morne further south, local authorities said. Rescue teams fanned out to help residents, many of whom were still dealing with the trauma of a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Port-de-Paix, Gros-Morne, the town of Chansolme and the northern island of Tortuga were among the areas worst hit, Haiti's civil protection agency said in a statement.

“The shock was felt across all departments of the country, giving rise to panic in several towns,” the agency said.

Missing toll soars to 5,000 in Indonesia quake and tsunami

The number of people believed missing from the quake and tsunami that struck Indonesia's Palu city has soared to 5,000, an official said Sunday, an indication that far more may have perished in the twin disaster than the current toll.

Indonesia's disaster agency say they have recovered 1,763 bodies so far from the 7.5-magnitude and subsequent tsunami that struck Sulawesi on September 28.

But there are fears that two of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in Palu - Petobo and Balaroa - could contain thousands more victims, swallowed up by ground that engulfed whole communities in a process known as liquefaction.

"Based on reports from the (village) heads of Balaroa and Petobo, there are about 5,000 people who have not been found," agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told reporters Sunday.

"Nevertheless, officials there are still trying to confirm this and are gathering data. It is not easy to obtain the exact number of those trapped by landslides, or liquefaction, or mud."

Nugroho said the search for the unaccounted would continue until October 11, at which point they would be listed as missing, presumed dead.

The figure drastically increases the estimates for those who disappeared when the disaster struck 10 days ago. Officials had initially predicted some 1,000 people were buried beneath the ruins of Palu.

But the latest tally speaks to the considerable destruction in the worst-hit areas of Petobo and Balaroa as the picture on the ground has become clearer.