Indonesian authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll to 2,010 from the 7.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Sulawesi island on Sep.28.

The official number of missing remained 671 while it is feared that 5,000 people could be still buried under the rubble.</s>A destroyed school in Gros Morne, northern Haiti. Photo: Reuters

The weekend earthquake which battered Haiti killed 17 people, authorities say, and damaged or destroyed nearly 2,500 houses, sparking fears that many buildings are in a precarious state in the impoverished Caribbean country.

The shallow, magnitude 5.9 quake struck northern Haiti on Saturday, spreading panic, particularly around Port-de-Paix, a coastal town that absorbed the brunt of the tremor.

Two more people were confirmed dead on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 17, according to Haiti's civil protection agency. Another 333 people were injured, it said. Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant said 2280 houses were damaged and 168 destroyed.

The quake, centred just off the north coast, was one of the strongest to hit Haiti since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake near Port-au-Prince killed tens of thousands of people in 2010.

There have been several aftershocks, causing alarm around Port-de-Paix, particularly inside the local prison.

"The prison walls are all cracked by the earthquake, and the building may collapse and kill all of us any time," inmate Dosty Pierre (30) said from his prison cell.

He and other prisoners urged authorities to move them.

The national administrative police chief, Carl-Henry Boucher, told Reuters that the penitentiary authorities in the capital were working on the issue, but could not say when the prisoners would be moved to a different jail.

On Sunday, prisoners organised a riot to escape and got out of their cells, but guards and riot police foiled the jail break, said Jackson Hilaire, police chief for the northwest region.</s>The official death toll from a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Indonesia on September the 28th has risen to 2,045.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman, Sutopo Nugroho said although the excavation process will stop, the emergency responses ‘will continue’ until the end of October.

About 82,000 people have been displaced in Palu alone and many are living in crude shelters made from salvaged wood and plastics from devastated villages and its surrounding hills.</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE: The death toll from the earthquake that struck northwest Haiti over the weekend has risen to 17, with nearly 350 others injured, the interior ministry said on Tuesday (Oct 9).

Nine people were killed in the coastal city of Port-de-Paix, the closest major town to the quake's epicentre.

Seven more died in Gros-Morne, about 50 kilometres to the southeast and one was killed in the city of Saint-Louis du Nord, the ministry said.

Emergency personnel deployed to the quake zone have said roughly 7,800 homes were either destroyed or damaged in the 5.9-magnitude tremor, according to the authorities.

In Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, building codes are often not respected, meaning that an earthquake of even a moderate size can result in fatalities and level buildings.

The country's Nord-Ouest department, where Port-de-Paix is located, is the worst-off part of Haiti, with many areas isolated due to the dire state of the roads.

The quake and several aftershocks were felt as far away as the capital Port-au-Prince, sparking fear among residents still reeling from the massive 2010 earthquake that left at least 200,000 people dead.</s>Haiti quake death toll rises to 17 as govt calls for help

PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti (AP) — The death toll from a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit near northern Haiti has increased to 17.

Officials say nine people died in the north coastal city of Port-de-Paix, seven in Gros Morne and one in Saint-Louis de Nord.

The government said late Monday that another 333 people were injured and that at least 7,783 families are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Saturday's quake also destroyed four schools and damaged thousands of homes.

A magnitude 5.2 aftershock hit Haiti on Sunday, prompting thousands of people to sleep outdoors for fear of their safety.

Officials in Haiti have struggled to shore up buildings due to the two major fault lines along Hispaniola, which is the island shared with the Dominican Republic.</s>PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti (AP) — The death toll from a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit near northern Haiti has increased to 17. Officials say nine people died in the north coastal city of Port-de-Paix, seven in…

PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti (AP) — The death toll from a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit near northern Haiti has increased to 17.

Officials say nine people died in the north coastal city of Port-de-Paix, seven in Gros Morne and one in Saint-Louis de Nord.

The government said late Monday that another 333 people were injured and that at least 7,783 families are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Saturday’s quake also destroyed four schools and damaged thousands of homes.

A magnitude 5.2 aftershock hit Haiti on Sunday, prompting thousands of people to sleep outdoors for fear of their safety.

Officials in Haiti have struggled to shore up buildings due to the two major fault lines along Hispaniola, which is the island shared with the Dominican Republic.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti (AP) — The death toll from a 5.9 earthquake that hit Haiti over the weekend rose to 15 people with 333 injured, authorities said Monday, as thousands of people slept outdoors fearing aftershocks would topple their cracked homes.

Haiti's civil protection agency said it will soon deploy 70 soldiers to the Nord-Ouest and Artibonite provinces that were hardest hit, noting it already sent 14 soldiers along with nurses and doctors to the area.

Thousands of people along Haiti's north coast dragged mattresses and chairs outside after a strong 5.2 magnitude aftershock on Sunday rattled cinderblock homes already cracked by Saturday's earthquake.

Among them was Marc-Sena Docteur, a 24-year-old carpenter whose girlfriend died in the earthquake.

"Now I'm left with a 9-month-old baby with no aid at all," he said. "I'm still crying. I don't know what I'm going to do without her."

The walls of the room that the couple had been renting for a year collapsed, and he and the baby have been sleeping outdoors since the quake.

Sunday's aftershock caused panic on streets where emergency teams were providing relief to victims. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the aftershock was located 9.8 miles (15.8 kilometers) north-northwest of Port-de-Paix, which is about 136 miles (219 kilometers) from the capital of Port-au-Prince.

On Monday, Haiti's Ministry of Communication released figures stating that at least 15 people had died, nine in Port-de-Paix, one in Saint-Louis du Nord and 5 in Gros Morne. Among the dead were a 5-year-old boy crushed by his collapsing house.

Impoverished Haiti, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes. A vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake damaged much of the capital in 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people.

Etanvie Dimorne, a 50-year-old mason, said people have to rebuild stronger given the earthquakes that have hit Haiti. He lost his home in Saturday's quake and is now sleeping under a tarp in someone's yard.

"Last night it rained," he said. "I have to sleep under difficult conditions."

President Jovenel Moise urged people to donate blood and asked international aid agencies to coordinate with local agencies to avoid duplicated efforts. The government did not provide an estimate of the damages.

The quake was felt only lightly in the capital, as well as in the neighboring Dominican Republic and in eastern Cuba, where no damage was reported.

In Haiti, officials have struggled to shore up buildings despite the two major fault lines along Hispaniola, which is the island shared with the Dominican Republic.

Pierre Jacques Baudre, a farmer and father of seven, said he was afraid to return to his home after one wall built with rocks and cement crumbled.

"The house can fall at any time," he said.</s>PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti (AP) - The death toll from a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit near northern Haiti has increased to 17.

Officials say nine people died in the north coastal city of Port-de-Paix, seven in Gros Morne and one in Saint-Louis de Nord.

The government said late Monday that another 333 people were injured and that at least 7,783 families are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Saturday's quake also destroyed four schools and damaged thousands of homes.

A magnitude 5.2 aftershock hit Haiti on Sunday, prompting thousands of people to sleep outdoors for fear of their safety.

Officials in Haiti have struggled to shore up buildings due to the two major fault lines along Hispaniola, which is the island shared with the Dominican Republic.

Lodanise Joseph sits with her 9-month-old granddaughter outside their home damaged in the quake that hit over the weekend in Port-de-Paix, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. The death toll from a 5.9 earthquake that hit Haiti over the weekend rose to at least 15 people with hundreds injured, according to updated figures released Monday by authorities, as rescue crews worked to help victims spooked by strong aftershocks. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)</s>PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti — The death toll from a 5.9 earthquake that hit Haiti over the weekend rose to at least 15 people with 333 injured, according to updated figures released Monday by authorities, as rescue crews worked to help victims spooked by strong aftershocks.

Haiti's civil protection agency said in a statement that it will soon deploy 70 soldiers to the Nord-Ouest and Artibonite provinces that were hardest hit, noting it already sent 14 soldiers along with nurses and doctors to the area over the weekend.

Thousands of people along Haiti's north coast have dragged mattresses and chairs outside, fearing new aftershocks. Many wondered how they were going to rebuild from Saturday night's quake and a strong 5.2 magnitude aftershock on Sunday that had residents in the coastal city of Port-de-Paix and elsewhere worried about returning to their cracked cinderblock homes for fear they would collapse.

Among them was Marc-Sena Docteur, a 24-year-old carpenter whose girlfriend died in the earthquake.

"Now I'm left with a 9-month-old baby with no aid at all," he said. "I'm still crying. I don't know what I'm going to do without her."

The walls of the room that the couple had been renting for a year collapsed, and he and the baby have been sleeping outdoors since the quake.

Sunday's aftershock caused panic on streets where emergency teams were providing relief to victims after cinderblock homes and rickety buildings toppled in several cities. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the aftershock was located 9.8 miles (15.8 kilometers) north-northwest of Port-de-Paix.

Among the dead were a 5-year-old boy crushed by his collapsing house.

Impoverished Haiti, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes. A vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake damaged much of the capital in 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people.

Etanvie Dimorne, a 50-year-old mason, said people have to rebuild stronger given the earthquakes that have hit Haiti. He lost his home in Saturday's quake and is now sleeping under a tarp in someone's yard.

"Last night it rained," he said. "I have to sleep under difficult conditions."

President Jovenel Moise urged people to donate blood and asked international aid agencies to coordinate with local agencies to avoid duplicated efforts. The government did not provide an estimate of the damages.

The USGS said Saturday's quake was centered 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of Port-de-Paix, which is about 136 miles (219 kilometers) from the capital of Port-au-Prince.

It was felt lightly in the capital, as well as in the neighboring Dominican Republic and in eastern Cuba, where no damage was reported.

In Haiti, officials have struggled to shore up buildings despite the two major fault lines along Hispaniola, which is the island shared with the Dominican Republic.

The damage from the temblors was visible. In Gros-Morne, one bed was covered in rubble, while the exterior walls of some homes were cracked. Others tilted at precarious angles.

Pierre Jacques Baudre, a farmer and father of seven, said he was afraid to return to his home after one wall built with rocks and cement crumbled.

"The house can fall at any time," he said.

The civil protection agency issued a statement saying that houses were destroyed in Port-de-Paix, Gros-Morne, Chansolme and Turtle Island.

Damage was also reported at the Saint-Michel church in Plaisance and the police station in Port-de-Paix. Parts of a hospital and an auditorium collapsed in Gros-Morne, where parliamentarian Alcide Audne told The Associated Press that two of the deaths occurred.</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – An earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday killed 15 people, injured another 300 and destroyed 40 houses, Jerry Chandler, head of the Caribbean country’s civil protection agency, said yesterday.

Chandler was speaking at a news conference to report on the human cost of the relatively shallow, magnitude 5.9 quake, which hit the north of the impoverished country late on Saturday.

The tremor caused widespread panic in the north and was one of the strongest to shake Haiti since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the capital Port-au-Prince in 2010. That quake killed tens of thousands of people.

A magnitude 5.2 aftershock on Sunday afternoon sent people rushing into the street in Port-de-Paix, the coastal town that bore the brunt of Saturday’s earthquake.
The death toll of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck Haiti rises to 17.