A major earthquake measuring over 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Haiti Tuesday evening at 5:53 Eastern Standard Time. The initial quake lasted about a minute, followed by strong 5.9 and 5.5 aftershocks. The epicenterof  Haiti's earthquake was six miles west of Carrefour, just outside the capital  city of Port-au-Prince. Dr. J. K. Warrick, chair of the Board of General  Superintendents, had arrived in Haiti only shortly before.

The  Church of the Nazarene in Haiti has been holding district assemblies for its 11  districts this week. Dr. Warrick flew into Haiti Tuesday afternoon for  those assemblies. Communication with personnel in Haiti has been difficult due  to phone lines being down, but he was able to get a text message out from the  Nazarene Seminary campus in Petion-ville, outside of Port-au-Prince, to say that  he and other church leaders on campus are safe.

What is not known at the  time of this posting is the full extent of loss of life or property damage  beyond the campus walls. French Field StrategyCoordinator Bill Dawson  E-mailed the Caribbean Communications Office to say the situation "is grave and  urgent."

"There are many injured all over the city," said Dawson. "Major  buildings, three and four stories, are down. . . . Neighbors who work for  the United Nations report many injured [and] people carrying wounded through the streets."

"We have no news yet of our Nazarene families off campus," Dawson continued. "The earthquake was centered in the mid-portion of the Central  District. Dr. Lucien Jean Baptiste is the D. S. [district superintendent] and is  on the road for an assembly in the South Central portion of Haiti. We do not know his whereabouts or information on him and the driver yet."

The  population in the capital area is approximately 2 million people, living in  dense urban communities, and they continue to experience significant aftershocks. Catastrophic casualties and damage are expected, as Haiti's weak  infrastructure is not prepared for this kind of disaster. More will be known  when daylight breaks.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with our Haitian  family of more than 118,000 Nazarenes who have suffered such loss today,"  Caribbean Regional Director John Smee said.  

A call to prayer was  made on behalf of the Haitian people, the Nazarene churches in  Haiti, those injured in the debris, General Superintendent J. K. Warrick, Bill Dawson and his wife, Martha, and volunteer Rachel Reed, all of  whom who are currently in Haiti.

To donate toward the disaster response,  visit www.ncm.org  or send a check  marked ACM 1204 Caribbean Disaster Response to

Global  Treasury Services
Church of the Nazarene
P. O. Box 843116
Kansas City,  MO 64184-3116

To obtain up-to-date continuing information on the Haiti  earthquake disaster, visit www.ncnnews.com.

--Caribbean  Region Communications, NCN  News