A powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck the poverty stricken capital of Haiti. A tremor was felt in Jamaica, and a tsunami watch was issued for Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Cuba ■

A powerful, magnitude 7.3 earthquake off the Haitian coast has rocked the capital and sparked a tsunami alert for states in the immediate vicinity.

Eyewitnesses in Port-au-Prince told the Associated Press a hospital and other buildings had collapsed and people were calling for help.

A visiting US official told the agency the sky was “just grey with dust” and he could hear distant screaming.

The impoverished state has been plagued by natural disasters.

Tuesday afternoon’s earthquake was centred about 15km (10m) south-west of Port-au-Prince, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect “coasts located usually no more than a 100km [60 miles] from the earthquake epicentre”.

A tsunami watch was in effect for Haiti, the neighbouring Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas.

An AP cameraman saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hilly suburb of the capital, and Henry Bahn, a visiting official from the US Department of Agriculture, said he had seen houses which had tumbled into a ravine.

“Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken,” said Mr Bahn.

He had, he continued, been walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.

“I just held on and bounced across the wall,” he said.

“I just heard a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance.”

Rocks, he added, were strewn all over the place, and the ravine where several homes had fallen in was “just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire” (BBC)

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Antillean · Bridgetown, Barbados

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