Just over a week after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, a strong aftershock hit the nation Wednesday morning, shaking buildings and sending scores of people running into the streets.
The magnitude 6.1 temblor – the largest aftershock following the Jan. 12 quake – rattled Haiti at 6:03am and was centred about 56 kilometres northwest of Port-au-Prince. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was centred too far inland to generate any tidal waves.
Wednesday’s big aftershock didn’t appear to cause any major new damage.
The Canadian death toll from last week’s earthquake has risen to 13, four of them government employees, and 543 citizens remain unaccounted for as the government prepares to keep troops in the devastated country for two to three months.
“Canadians are united in sorrow at the untimely passing of their countrymen,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
There are reports that a UN worker from Quebec, Renee Carrier, has also died, but that hasn’t been confirmed.
The European Union now estimates the earthquake in Haiti has claimed more than 200,000 lives and left approximately 1.5 million homeless. Officials in Haiti say 70,000 bodies have been recovered, so far.
As the scope of the disaster broadens daily, so, too, has Canada’s response to the dire situation with the government announcing it’s committing $135 million to relief efforts and is preparing to deploy more police officers, if needed, to help stabilize the nation, where lawlessness, looting and violence have taken hold, hampering the distribution of aid.
There were more than 80 Canadian police officers in Haiti before the quake hit.
“We need to move beyond reconstruction to build a new Haiti,” Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said. “We are loyal neighbours and partners of the Haitian people, and this is what we’re focused on.”
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Canadian troops could be deployed in Haiti for two to three months at the most. Other departments, including Foreign Affairs and the Canadian International Development Agency, would pick up where the military leaves off.
At the request of the Haitian government, Canada has focused its efforts on Jacmel and Leogane. Units will be deployed to deal with violence in Port-au-Prince, as needed. Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is on the ground in Jacmel and some 2,000 troops and two warships are headed to, or have already arrived, in Haiti.