Page updated on 13/04/2010

CRISIS: Haiti Emergency Appeal

Haiti Earthquake Appeal

A massive earthquake has struck the Caribbean island of Haiti. The earthquake, 7 in the Richter scale, the most powerful to hit Haiti in 200 years, struck at 4.53pm local time (9.53pm GMT) on 12th January 2010, about 10 miles from Port-au-Prince. The earthquake was so strong it could be felt 200 miles away in Cuba. Tens of thousands of people are feared dead and many are still trapped alive underneath the rubble. Approximately three million people are believed to have been affected by the earthquake.

Hundreds of buildings in the capital collapsed including homes, hospitals, schools, the United Nations head quarters and the presidential palace.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive fears that the death toll could reach 100,000.

Ummah Welfare Trust has launched an emergency appeal to respond to the disaster, one third of the country's 9 million people could need emergency aid.

Hospitals are struggling to cope with the large numbers of injured people and there is an urgent need for emergency medical care, food, clean water and shelter.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and struggles from endemic poverty, food shortages and violence. It has suffered from many recent natural disasters including disastrous hurricanes and storms in 2008.

Please donate and help us to respond to this disaster.

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• The country of Haiti makes up the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Hispanola is between Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the eastern two-thirds of the island is the Dominican Republic.
• The capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince.
• Haiti is one of poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Eighty percent of residents live in poverty, according to the CIA World Factbook.
• Haiti is one of the most densely populated and least developed countries in the Western Hemisphere.

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