The 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti about 90 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince on the morning of Aug. 14. It was stronger than the 2010 earthquake from which the island is still recovering.
More than 1,800 people were injured by the earthquake and even more remain unaccounted for, according to Haiti’s civil authorities.
Hundreds of homes and seven churches were also destroyed. Among the victims was a Catholic priest, according to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news agency.
Immediately following the earthquake, Akim Kikonda, the director of Catholic Relief Services in Haiti told ACI Prensa that a Catholic rectory in Les Cayes was severely damaged causing three fatalities, one priest and two employees.
Cardinal Chibly Langlois, the bishop of Les Cayes, was also injured by the earthquake, but his injuries are not life-threatening, according to Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Langlois, 62, became the first Haitian to become Catholic cardinal in 2014.
Kikonda said that the local public hospital has been overwhelmed by the number of emergencies, and is turning away most of the injured.
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