President Rene Preval issued a worldwide appeal for assistance. He said tens of thousands might have been killed in the magnitude-7 earthquake that rocked the country Tuesday.
The damage was centred around the capital, Port-au-Prince, home to about 1.9 million people, according to Monsters and Critics.com.
The death toll remains the subject of conjecture as the stricken government tries to assess the damage.
While Preval told The Miami Herald that thousands could have died, he said there was no official toll and that further evaluation was needed.
Speaking on CNN, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said, 'I believe that we are well over 100,000' dead, based on the number of buildings that have collapsed.
'I hope that is not true because I hope the people had the time to get out,' he said. 'But we have so much people in the streets right now.'
Bodies piled up on the streets of Port-au-Prince while survivors looked for their relatives amid the rubble.
The Red Cross said up to 3 million people might require humanitarian assistance.
The quake is the region's worst in a century, the US Geological Survey said.
AlertNet reports that hundreds of Haitians at home and abroad are trying to get in touch with each other through a website set up after the devastating earthquake, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.
About 1,360 Haitians, mostly in the United States and Canada, registered on the site, www.icrc.org/familylinks, within hours of it going live, ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard said. Most appeared to be searching for relatives in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The Money Times' reports that United Nation officials announced that the earthquake which shook Haiti has claimed 17 lives and left 150 people from their peacekeeping mission still missing.
On Wednesday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported that the lives of 16 of their personnel, peacekeepers and international police officers, were lost because of the quake.
Earlier that day, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy has already announced that a Haitian member helping with the peacekeeping mission had died.
Le Roy stated, "The figure we are giving to you is only the confirmed fatalities. But of course, the number of (U.N.) fatalities at the end will be much higher — it's obvious."
Officials also reported that there are at least 56 UN personnel who were injured, with 7 obtaining serious injuries and transferred out of the country.
Following are some of the efforts by foreign governments and aid agencies to help [Source: Canada.com]:
UNITED STATES - deployed two standing search and rescue teams with specialized technical capabilities and appropriate equipment to begin an aggressive search and rescue effort, said Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
EUROPEAN UNION - The EU's executive European Commission approved 3 million euros of fast-track funding for the international effort and could pledge more in coming days, a spokeswoman said.
Countries including Belgium, Sweden and Luxembourg had offered assistance via an EU emergency assistance co-ordination mechanism, with offers ranging from a water purification unit to tents
FRANCE - is sending two airplanes and a field hospital as well as rescue services, said Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
CANADA - is sending a 20-person reconnaissance team to see what aid it could give. The Canadian embassy is providing medical help, food and tents to stranded Canadian citizens.
GERMAN - is sending 1 million euros ) in immediate aid, said Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
ICELAND - sent a search and rescue team of 37 specialists.
BRITAIN - a four-person field assessment team is en route to Port-Au-Prince to determine priorities for urgent assistance and Britain also sending a search and rescue team of 64 people with dogs and heavy rescue equipment.
UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - WFP head Josette Sheeran said the agency was already flying in additional food that would provide more than 500,000 emergency meals.
UN - In Geneva, UN officials said they expected the world body would issue an international emergency appeal for funds and other assistance for Haiti in the next few days, once needs on the ground had been assessed.
INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK - The Inter-American Development Bank said it would provide $200,000 in immediate aid. The World Bank planned to send a team to help assess damage and plan a recovery.
According to AFP, Japan on Thursday pledged five million dollars in emergency aid to help Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that may have killed more than 100,000 people. A foreign ministry official said that "separately, Japan will send emergency goods worth 30 million yen (330,000 dollars) including tents to Haiti."
