Haiti Update: Over 304 Dead, Over 1,800 Injured

Haiti earthquake latest: At least 304 people dead, more than 1,800 injured

At least 304 people were killed and more than 1,800 injured as a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti Saturday morning, the country's civil protection agency confirmed to ABC News.

The earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey, struck about 5 miles north of Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti, a little over 90 miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince. 

There are also concerns that the earthquake could exacerbate the island's COVID-19 infection rate should displaced people be forced into closer confines.

The Haitian government "believes high casualties are probable given the earthquake's magnitude," Bocchit Edmond, the country's ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

"Emergency responses are underway, and damages are being assessed," Edmond added, saying destruction is "widespread." 

Haiti, which is divided into 10 departments, said 160 deaths took place in Sud, 42 in Nippes, 100 in Grand'Anse and two in Nord-Ouest, according to the civil protection agency.

The embassy is helping to coordinate response efforts between the U.S. and Haitian governments. 

The earthquake was virtually the same size and at the same shallow depth as the 2010 quake, and along the exact same fault line -- the Enriquillo Plantain Garden -- but farther west and in a less-populated region.

650,000 people have been exposed to level VII shaking, which the USGS defines as "very strong" and which is powerful enough to topple poorly built structures.