HolaDR.com: Everything About The Dominican Republic!

    SANTO DOMINGO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — The spokesperson of the Dominican president on Tuesday made an urgent appeal to the international community for humanitarian aid for Haiti that was hit by the region’s ever-recorded strongest earthquake.

    Rafael Nunez, spokesperson from the presidential office, said on television that “the situation in Haiti is difficult so we request aid from Latin America and around the world to help our neighbor.”

    The Dominican Republic shares the Espanola Island with Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

    The spokesperson said that the Dominican Republic was ready to help Haiti out.

    In other developments, U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed that his country is ready to send humanitarian aid to Haiti.

    Tuesday’s temblor, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, rocked Haiti at 16:53 local time (2153 GMT).

    Though there have been no confirmed casualties so far, press reports from Port au Prince, capital city of Haiti, confirmed collapses of office and residence buildings including the presidential office, ministerial offices, a hospital and a cathedral.

    The earthquake was already followed by a tsunami and two aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 respectively.

    The earthquake was centered about 15 km southwest to the Haitian capital, with a depth of 10 km, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

    Haiti was last hit by a strong earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale in 1984.