At least 12 people have been killed in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake which struck off the northwest coast of Haiti late Saturday.
More than 130 others were reportedly injured while homes in the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation, were destroyed, authorities said.
The epicenter of the quake was located about 19 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of the city of Port-de-Paix, the US Geological Survey reported.
President Jovenel Moise said he and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant had reached “the zone affected by the earthquake to bring assistance to the population” and coordinate relief efforts.
He had said earlier he was headed to Port-de-Paix and another quake-hit city, Gros-Morne, about 50 kilometers to the southeast.
“I congratulate the citizens for their show of solidarity and support,” Moise said in a Twitter message, vowing to ensure that the government was doing everything possible to help victims.
The quake, which was felt across the country, struck at 8:10 pm (0010 GMT Sunday) at a shallow depth of 11.7 kilometers.
Government spokesmen said that 12 people had been reported dead so far, eight of them in Port-de-Paix, the capital of Haiti’s Nord-Ouest department, and four others in Gros-Morne.
Haiti’s civil protection agency put the preliminary number of injured at 188.
Two minor aftershocks were registered, the agency said, adding that no tsunami warning was issued.
The town of Chansolme and the small island of Tortuga also suffered damage, officials said.
The tremor rattled the capital Port-de-Prince, sparking fear among residents still reeling from the massive 2010 earthquake that left at least 200,000 people dead and 300,000 more injured.
“I urge the population to remain calm,” President Moise said in a tweet Saturday.
Some of the injuries were sustained when people panicked after the quake, the civil protection agency said.
