Samaritan’s Purse is responding in the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that slammed southeastern Haiti near the port city of Les Cayes. The Saturday morning temblor caused severe damage—destroying homes and trapping people in the rubble. More than 1,000 have died and casualties are feared to rise as search and rescue efforts continue.
Our teams are on the ground preparing relief supplies for transport to impacted areas of the island. We have deployed a Tier 1 mobile trauma unit to be constructed in Les Cayes.
The Samaritan’s Purse DC-8 aircraft initally flew out on August 15 from North Carolina bringing more than a dozen disaster response specialists along with 31 tons of relief to hurting communities, including emergency shelter material, medical supplies, and water filtration units to provide clean water daily for thousands of people. A medical team, including Canadian DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) members, will also deploy to provide basic medical care and begin health assessments.
If you are interested in joining our DART roster to be a part of these types of disaster responses, click here to apply.
Teams are working closely with local authorities and church partners to assess needs, distribute aid, and mount a strategic response in hard-hit locations.
“This massive earthquake has devastated Haiti—it’s left many families homeless and searching for their loved ones,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “We are responding to help meet needs in Jesus’ Name. Please pray for Haiti and all those who are suffering.”
This earthquake, followed by a 5.2 aftershock, was more powerful than the devastating 7.0 earthquake that leveled whole communities near the capital Port-au-Prince in 2010.
Affected communities are also at a high risk for other illnesses, including the growing worldwide spread of COVID-19 variants. Disasters of this magnitude also expose Haitians to the threat of deadly cholera outbreaks, a disease endemic to the island nation that quickly infects communities as infrastructure and clean water supplies are compromised.
Samaritan’s Purse has worked extensively in Haiti, including our response to the 2010 earthquake and subsequent widespread cholera outbreaks.
Please pray for the many hurting families as they mourn and await news of injured or missing loved ones. Pray also for rescue efforts, local authorities, church partners, and for wisdom and protection as our teams respond in the wake of unspeakable devastation.
Note: This story was originally published on August 14 and updated on August 16.
Samaritan's Purse responds to humanitarian crises with physical aid and a message of spiritual hope for victims of natural disasters, famine, poverty, and war. Your gift will allow us to share Jesus' love through clean water, food, shelter, medical supplies, personnel, and other aid.