Haiti government officials say more than 100,000 people may have been killed in the massive earthquake that struck the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday [AFP]
Published On 17 Jan 201017 Jan 2010
The Caribbean nation has issued urgent calls for help after the magnitude 7.0 quake flattened entire neighbourhoods in and around Port-au-Prince [Reuters]
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Much of the infrastructure in the city has been destroyed and authorities say they are overwhelmed at the scale of the disaster [AFP]
Rescuers have been racing to search for survivors, recovering victims trapped under rubble and trying to provide basic medical care [AFP]
Many hospitals were flattened or severely damaged, and essential services crippled. Communication and power lines remain disrupted [AFP]
The US also began evacuating its citizens to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in southern Cuba. There are some 45,000 Americans in Haiti [GALLO/GETTY]
An estimated 74,000 people live within a 10-km radius of the epicentre of the quake, about 15km west of Port-au-Prince [EPA]
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Substandard design and materials, and poor construction are likely to have contributed to the collapse of many buildings [GALLO/GETTY]
The Red Cross has issued an urgent appeal for aid saying its staff on the ground in Haiti have run out of medical supplies, as international aid begin to arrive [AFP]
The UN has released $10m in emergency funds, even as its mission headquarters in Port-au-Prince lies in ruins leaving 17 personnel dead and 150 workers still unaccounted for [GALLO/GETTY]
