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More than 110,000 killed in Haiti quake: ministry

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AFPPTI Port-au- Prince
I / Port-au- Prince January 23, 2010, 15:55 IST

More than 110,000 people were confirmed killed in the Haiti earthquake, the interior ministry has said, making it the deadliest quake on record in the Americas.

The ministry put the toll from the disastrous January 12 quake at 111,499. The government had previously said that at least 75,000 people were killed.

The statement said that 193,891 people were injured in the 7.0-magnitude quake that hit the capital Port-au-Prince.

More than 609,000 people were currently living in 500 temporary camps, it said, updating a previous figure of 500,000 homeless.

Haitian officials have expressed fear that the death toll from the country's worst earthquake in over a century may surpass 200,000.

 

The US Geological Survey said the Haiti disaster has already gone down in history as the most destructive on record in this region.

"That's probably accurate that this is the most deadly quake to occur in this part of the world," USGS geophysicist Dale Grant told AFP. "I don't think we've seen anything like it in this area," he added.

Prior to Haiti, the USGS lists the 1970 Peru earthquake as the deadliest in the Americas, with an estimated 70,000 killed.

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First Published: Jan 23 2010 | 3:55 PM IST

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