Earthquake hits Haiti – update from the EarthSpark team

This morning an earthquake hit southern Haiti, not far from EarthSpark’s operations.

It's been a whirlwind of a day. The damage is extensive in the region. The iconic church in Les Anglais collapsed while a baptism was taking place. Homes toppled. Bodies have been pulled from the rubble, and many remain missing.

Our EarthSpark and Enèji Pwòp teams are accounted for, but family members are injured. One of our colleagues lost his daughter. It's heartbreaking.

Les Anglais was hit harder than Tiburon. Both towns seem to have fared better than others in the region.

For safety, our team de-energized the Les Anglais grid for several hours to check for downed wires and await aftershocks. Both microgrids are back up and running now. I’m proud and relieved to say that EarthSpark’s systems seem to have fared well and are powering the towns through this tragedy.

With the grids sorted, Wendy and Jean are now busy trying to help our team and community members. Regional roads are impassible due to landslides. Hospitals on the other sides of the landslides are overwhelmed.

With all of the Haiti headlines focused on the awful events in Port-au-Prince recently, this is a tragic reminder that rural Haiti still urgently needs basic services and infrastructure.

Before today's earthquake, the now-toppled steeple was a gleaming icon of Les Anglais. The poles and wires visible in this photo are still standing and providing electricity to the town.