Tsunami warning issued for Haiti’s coastline following 7.2 earthquake

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least several people were injured as a result of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred today northeast of Saint-Louis du Sud, in southern Haiti and caused damage to infrastructure in several localities, according to local media reports.

The authorities have not yet given official information, but the media reports significant damage in the towns of Saint-Louis du Sud, Les Cayes, and Jérémie.

The hospital in Les Cayes has received a large number of injured people, according to reports.

The earthquake, which was registered at 8:29 AM (12.29 GMT) and had a depth of 10 kilometers, caused panic among the population, recalling the 2010 earthquake, also of 7 degrees, which caused 300,000 deaths, an equal number of injured, and 1.5 million people affected.

U.S. authorities issued a tsunami warning Saturday in the capital and some coasts of Haiti due to the earthquake and warned that the quake is “likely” to leave “a high number of victims”.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that the quake is “likely” to leave a “high number of casualties”. (NOAA), which monitors potential tsunami emergence around the world, warned of the “threat” of giant waves almost an hour after the strong earthquake was recorded.

“Tsunami waves as high as 1 to 3 meters above the tide level are possible off some coasts of Haiti,” NOAA said.

It added that such a tsunami could reach the coasts of Port-au-Prince, those of the southern city of Jacmel and those of Jérémie (southwest) and that the threat could last “many hours after the initial wave,” as the interval between dangerous waves can be “five minutes to an hour….”