Quake Batters Haiti, Kills At Least 304 As Storm Threatens

Rescue workers and survivors of one of Haiti’s most powerful earthquakes tried to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings Sunday in a desperate attempt to reach people before Tropical Storm Grace begins battering the already overwhelmed nation, Maria Abi-Habib reported for the New York Times.

Photo Insert: Rescue teams working hard to clear the main access roads and collapsed houses in Cayes.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake violently shook Haiti on Saturday morning, a devastating blow to an impoverished country that is still reeling from a presidential assassination last month and that never really recovered from a disastrous quake more than 11 years ago.

The quake inundated hospitals, flattened buildings, and trapped people under rubble in at least two cities in the western part of the country’s southern peninsula, but didn’t appear to cause major damage in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

An official from the Civil Protection Agency said the death toll so far was at least 304 people, with more than 1,800 injured.

The quake struck Haiti’s southern peninsula, a less densely populated area of the country. Videos and images of damage showed collapsed buildings in the towns of Les Cayes and Jeremie, but the full scope of damage and casualties was still unknown.

Haiti’s embassy in the United States said in a statement Saturday that “the Haitian government believes high casualties are probable given the earthquake’s magnitude.”

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