Haiti earthquake leaves over 300 dead, hundreds injured or missing

A landslide triggered by the earthquake blocked National Road 7, according to Haiti's Civil Protection Service. The highway, which connects Les Cayes and Jérémie, was cut off near the Glace River, it said. 

"An operation is underway to restore circulation," the Civil Protection Service said Saturday afternoon. 

The death toll from the earthquake has increased to at least 304, and more than 1,800 others have been reported wounded, Haiti's Civil Protection Service tweeted. It called those figures a "partial assessment." Officials in Haiti held a briefing Saturday evening with the latest updates.

The Civil Protection Service said 160 of the deaths were reported in Sud, the department that includes the city of Les Cayes; 100 in Grand'Anse, whose capital is Jérémie; 42 in Nippes, and 2 in Nord-Ouest. Some of those injured have been taken to local hospitals, they said.

There have so far been four aftershocks in Haiti of magnitude 5 or greater since the massive earthquake Saturday morning, and more are expected to come in the coming days and weeks, according to geophysicist William Barnhart with the U.S. Geological Survey. He said aftershocks should decrease in frequency and magnitude over time.

"There will continue to be aftershocks and there will be aftershocks that people will feel in that region and could potentially cause continued damage to buildings," Barnhart told CBSN's Tom Hanson on Saturday. 

Barnhart said that, similar to the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, Saturday's quake was shallow, "so that means that the ground shaking from this earthquake would have been quite extreme."

He said the USGS issued a red alert as a result of the earthquake, and that it estimates the death toll from the quake could exceed 10,000 based on an estimate of ground shaking and how many people were exposed to the earthquake. Barnhart said the country could potentially lose between 6 to 60% of its GDP in economic losses. 

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it has teams on the ground to assist children and families affected by the earthquake. 

"We are deeply saddened by the reports of casualties and heavy damage following the earthquake earlier today in Haiti," Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Haiti, said in a statement, CBS News' Pamela Falk reports. "UNICEF is working with Government and non-government partners to provide support to affected communities. We stand in solidarity with families and children during this difficult time."

U.N. Secretary-General António Gutteres said on Twitter that his "heart goes out to all affected by the earthquake," and that the U.N. is working to support rescue and relief efforts.

The earthquake death toll has increased to 227, and hundreds of others are wounded and missing, Haiti's Civil Protection Service tweeted. 

The Civil Protection Service said many victims were able to be pulled from the rubble and that hospitals continue to receive injured survivors.

Members of Haiti's government, including the minister of defense and Prime Minister Ariel Henry, are surveying disaster areas by helicopter for the first assessment of the damage, the ministry of defense tweeted Saturday. 

Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry says local hospitals "are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people" in wake of the earthquake, The Associated Press reports.

"The needs are enormous," he said. "We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support."

Henry said the International Red Cross and hospitals in areas unaffected by the earthquake were helping to care for the injured. 

The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development said disaster experts are at the scene assessing the damage and needs. 

Earthquake recovery could be complicated by Tropical Storm Grace, which the National Hurricane Center says may impact the island with rain and wind Monday night. Four to seven inches of rainfall are being predicted for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which could bring flash flooding and trigger landslides.

"There is a risk of wind and rainfall impacts across the rest of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Florida next week, and interests in those areas should monitor the progress of Grace and updates to the forecast," the center wrote in an advisory Saturday. 

It added that "additional watches and warnings will likely be required for this area."

Tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for areas including the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis among others.  

Haiti's prime minister, Dr. Ariel Henry, declared a state of emergency which will last for one month in response to the earthquake. 

"We will make the necessary arrangements to assist people affected by the earthquake in the Southern Peninsula," Henry wrote on Twitter. "We must show a lot of solidarity with regard to the emergency."

The White House said President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed on the situation in Haiti by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Mr. Biden authorized an immediate U.S. response and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior U.S. official to coordinate the effort.

"In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti this morning," Mr. Biden said in a statement. "We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed."

Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Twitter that the ″violent quake″ had caused loss of life and damage in various parts of the country.

He said he would mobilize all available government resources to help victims and appealed to Haitians to unify as they ″confront this dramatic situation in which we're living right now.′

The quake comes just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home by a team of gunmen, shaking a country already battling poverty, spiraling gang violence and COVID-19.

Videos and images posted to social media appear to show chaotic scenes in Haiti after the powerful earthquake.  

Some images posted on social media — which CBS News could not immediately verify — showed homes and part of a church in the town of Jeremie reduced to rubble. 

Another video from the town appears to show a woman writhing in pain with the caption: "Hospitals are overwhelmed and there is a lack of staff to provide first aid to the victims."

Another video appears to show panicked residents running through the streets.

Residents in Haiti described a scene of chaos and destruction after the earthquake struck.

"Lots of homes are destroyed, people are dead and some are at the hospital," Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicenter, told AFP. "Everyone is in the street now and the shocks keep coming."

Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, said she was jolted awake by the earthquake and that her bed was shaking.

"I woke up and didn't have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street," Verneus said.

The U.S. Geological Survey issued a red alert for shaking-related deaths after the powerful earthquake.

"High casualties are probable and the disaster is likely widespread," the USGS said. "Past events with this alert level have required a national or international level response."

The USGS notes that structures in Haiti are especially vulnerable to earthquake shaking.

"The predominant vulnerable building types are mud wall and adobe block construction," the survey said.

The powerful 7.2-magnitude quake that struck Haiti Saturday caused multiple deaths, local authorities said.

"I can confirm that there are deaths, but I don't yet have an exact toll," Jerry Chandler, Haiti's director of civil protection, told AFP. "We're still collecting information."

He said the country's emergency operations center had been activated and Prime Minister Ariel Henry was headed there.