The following statement was posted Aug. 14 from Outreach to Haiti:
Please keep Haiti and its people in your prayers after they suffered a major earthquake this morning. The earthquake was a magnitude 7.2 tremor followed by a 5.2 aftershock 20 minutes later. The area struck was in Western Haiti, about 7.5 miles northeast of Saint-Louis du Sud, and about 90 miles southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince. One news source said shaking was far from the epicenter.
It is too early to tell how much damage was caused and how many people have died in southwestern Haiti. Hard facts are still coming in, but some sources say there are fatalities and damage.
It has only been about 11 years since Haiti suffered major damage and devastating fatalities from the earthquake that hit the country and leveled most of the capital city including our buildings, which were damaged beyond repair.
Today our Director of Operations in the Christ Roi (Christ the King) neighborhood of Port-au-Prince shared the following: "There is lots of damage in the south part of the country, but in the metropolitan area, it seems that there is no significant damage recorded."
We hope you will support the many groups from the United States and other countries, including us, who serve in Haiti to help the millions of men, women, and children who need food, shelter, medical care, and education.
The power of prayer is strong so please pray for Haiti as our Haitian friends move forward despite the many, many challenges they continue to face. As we recently shared, a Haitian friend reminded us: “We are under God’s protection. We must keep our minds positive and do what we have to do.”
We will provide updates on the current situation in Haiti.
Susan Wallace, Executive Director
