Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
 

Catastrophic Earthquake Hits Haiti

A major earthquake measuring 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Haiti Tuesday evening at 5:53 EST. The initial quake lasted about a minute, followed by strong 5.9 and 5.5 aftershocks. The epicenter of Haiti’s earthquake was six miles west of Carrefour, just outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The Church of the Nazarene in Haiti has been holding district assemblies for its 11 districts this week. General Superintendent J.K. Warrick flew into Haiti Tuesday afternoon for those assemblies. Communication with personnel in Haiti has been difficult due to phone lines being down, but Warrick was able to get a text message out from the Nazarene Seminary campus in Petion-ville, outside of Port-au-Prince, to say he and other church leaders on campus are safe.

What is not known is the full extent of loss of life or property damage beyond the campus walls. Bill Dawson, French Field Strategy Coordinator, emailed to say that the situation "is grave and urgent."

"There are many injured all over the city. Major buildings, three and four stories, are down. … Neighbors who work for the UN report many injured, people carrying wounded through the streets," Dawson said.

"We have no news yet of our Nazarene families off campus," Dawson said. "The earthquake was centered in the mid portion of the Central District. Dr. Lucien Jean Baptiste is the DS (district superintendent) and is on the road for an assembly in the South Central portion of Haiti. We do not know his whereabouts or information on him and the driver yet."

The population in the capital area is about 2 million people, living in dense urban communities, and they continue to experience significant aftershocks. Catastrophic casualties and damage are expected, as Haiti’s weak infrastructure is not prepared for this kind of disaster. More will be known when daylight breaks.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with our Haitian family of more than 118,000 Nazarenes who  have suffered such loss today," said Dr. John Smee, Caribbean Regional Director.

Please be in prayer for the Haitian people and the Nazarene churches in Haiti.

To donate towards relief efforts click here.

You can also send a check to General Treasurer / ACM 1204 Caribbean Disaster Response / PO Box 843116 / Kansas City, MO 64184-3116

Check here for more news stories and here for photos.

Photo courtesy of radioteleginen.com

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