StEER - 2018 HAITI EARTHQUAKE: PRELIMINARY VIRTUAL ASSESSMENT TEAM (P-VAT) REPORT

On October 6, 2018, at 8:12 pm local time, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, with a depth of 11.7 km, struck 19 km northwest of Port-de-Paix, Haiti. The earthquake damaged structures, killed at least 17 people, and injured 333 people at the time this report was authored. Shaking was felt as far away as Port-au-Prince, 219 km away from the epicenter. There were several aftershocks following the earthquake, including one with magnitude of 5.2. The earthquake caused part of a hospital to collapse in Gros-Morne, damaged the façade of the Paroisse Saint Michel Archange de Plaisance church in Plaisance, caused a cultural center to collapse in Gros-Morne, damaged a holding cell at the Police Nationale d'Haiti Commissariat de Port-de-Paix in Port-de-Paix (allowing several detainees to escape), caused an auditorium to collapse in Gros-Morne, damaged several classrooms at San Gabriel National School in Gros-Morne, and destroyed houses in the communes of Chansolme, Gros-Morne, Plaisance, and Port-de-Paix as well as on the island of Tortuga. Until now, there are no reported cases of bridge damage or geotechnical failures. Although the earthquake can be classified as a moderate earthquake according to its magnitude, in terms of learning from earthquakes, it is an important event considering the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed 220,000 people and the renewed emphasis on disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts since that event.