Haiti rocked by magnitude 5.5 earthquake

June 6, 2023  -An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 rocked parts of Haiti early morning on Tuesday, June 6, causing panic and damage to some buildings near Abricot  in the Department of Grand’Anse.

The Haitian Civil Protection said that the epicenter of the quake was located at 18.68 degrees north latitude and 74.32 degrees west longitude, four kilometers (km) north-west of Abricot,  23 km north-west of Jérémie, 180 km northwest of Léogâne (West Department) and 210km west of Port-au-Prince a depth of 10 km.

It said that while there has been no report of loss of life, many buildings were damaged in Jérémie and in Sainte Hélène  and that the quake had caused panic among the population.

Tuesday’s quake followed the 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sunday in the same area.

The strongest earthquake in Haiti happened in 2021 when a tremor with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked the French-speaking CARICOM country killing more than 2, 240 people.

CMC/