Catastrophic Earthquake Hits Haiti
Thursday, January 14, 2010 (19:52:56)

Posted by admin

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.”

“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,” Caribbean Regional Director John Smee said.

Please be in prayer for the Haitian people and the Nazarene churches in Haiti. Pray for those injured in the debris. Also remember Dr. J.K. Warrick, Dr. Bill Dawson and his wife, Martha, and volunteer Rachel Reed, who are in Haiti now.

Persons and churches wishing to make a donation can mark their checks “Caribbean Disaster Response ACM1204” and mail them to the Global Treasury Services, PO Box 843116 Kansas City, MO 64184.

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries