Death toll from Haiti earthquake rises to 724

The death toll from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti, a Caribbean country, on Saturday, has risen to 724.

The Haiti civil protection agency announced this on Sunday.

The agency said at least 2,800 people sustained injuries from the devastating earthquake.

The earthquake erupted five miles from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes in the western part of the country, about 80 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGSS).

In a tweet on Sunday, Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said her agency has deployed a search-and-rescue team to join its earthquake disaster response team in Haiti.

She said the 65-person deployment would bring “specialised tools, equipment and medical supplies to assist in search operations”.

Update: at the request of Haiti’s government, @USAID has deployed an urban search & rescue team to join our #Haiti earthquake disaster response team. This 65-person deployment brings 52,000 pounds of specialized tools, equipment & medical supplies to assist in search operations.

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— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) August 15, 2021

Ariel Henry, prime minister of Haiti, had declared a state of emergency and assured residents that the government would mobilise resources to help victims in areas affected by the earthquake.

“We will make the necessary arrangements to assist people affected by the earthquake in the Southern Peninsula. We must show a lot of solidarity with regard to the emergency. The government will declare a state of emergency. We will act quickly,” he had said.

This is not the first time Haiti will experience a disaster of this magnitude; in 2010, at least 200,000 people died in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the country.

The development is happening amid a political crisis in the country, following the death of President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated on July 7.