The deadliest earthquake of 2021 killed at least 2,248 people in southern Haiti, the country's worst disaster since the 2010 earthquake.
Key Facts
- Magnitude
- 7.2 Mw
- Confirmed deaths
- 2,248 people
- Injured
- 12,200+ people
- Buildings damaged or destroyed
- 137,500+ buildings
- People needing assistance
- 650,000 people
- Estimated economic loss
- 1.5 billion+ USD
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Tiburon Peninsula of southern Haiti lies within a seismically active zone along the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault system. Tectonic stress accumulation in this region produced a sudden rupture at a shallow hypocenter approximately 10 kilometres below the surface, near Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, roughly 150 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince.
At 08:29 EDT on 14 August 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula. Shaking was intense across the Sud Department, briefly triggering tsunami warnings along the Haitian coast. At least 137,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 500,000 children were among the estimated 650,000 people requiring immediate assistance.
At least 2,248 people were killed and more than 12,200 injured, making it the deadliest natural disaster of 2021 and Haiti's worst since the 2010 earthquake. Economic losses exceeded US$1.5 billion, nearly 10% of Haiti's GDP. USAID committed US$32 million in aid, while the Haitian Civil Protection agency warned of a large-scale humanitarian crisis.
Human Cost
Each dot represents approximately 10,000 deaths. Total estimated: 2,248 (earthquake)