PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two moderate earthquakes shook southwest Haiti on Monday, creating panic and prompting schools to close, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
A magnitude 5.3 quake at 8:16 a.m. (1316 GMT) was followed by a magnitude 5.1 quake nearly an hour later. Both were centered on Haiti’s southern peninsula, west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It said both were centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the surface.
Sylvera Guillame, director of Haiti’s civil protection agency for the country’s southern region, told The Associated Press that the shallow quakes caused panic but that no injuries or deaths were reported. He said schools in the area closed and sent children home as a precaution.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwest Haiti on Aug. 14, killing more than 2,200 people and damaging or destroying some 137,500 homes.
Evens Sanon, The Associated Press
