Haiti: Thousands feared dead in strongest earthquake in 200 years

The tremor sparked widespread panic as it brought down buildings including the presidential palace, hotels, a hospital and the UN headquarters in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince (affected landmarks on Google maps). Large numbers of UN staff were reported to be missing, as well as two American and two Australian citizens.

The quake was the strongest to hit the country in 200 years and was felt as far away as Cuba.

Thousands of people gathered in public squares late into the night, singing hymns and weeping.

Many gravely injured people sat in the streets, pleading for doctors. With almost no emergency services to speak of, the surivors had few other options.

(...) "When we get an idea of the toll it will be measured in the hundreds," a local doctor, who was bloodied and nursing an injured left arm, said. One aid worker estimated the quake had killed thousands.

(...) Rescue teams were hampered when communications went down in the minutes after the earthquake struck at 2153 GMT, but efforts free people trapped in the debris continued throughout the night.

Haitian police vehicles as well as those from the United Nations and the Red Cross tried to ferry the wounded to hospital, but progress was slow as chunks of rubble lay strewn across the roads.

Most radio and television stations stopped functioning, and the airwaves were only punctuated by a few rare radio appeals for help.

Haiti's presidential palace before (top) and after the earthquake