Haiti Earthquake Kills At Least 12 People

Haiti has been rocked by a major 5.9 magnitude earthquake which has killed at least 12 people and injured more than 100, officials said.

Several buildings collapsed after the quake struck the northwestern part of the impoverished Caribbean country shortly after 8pm on Saturday.

The police chief for the northwest region, Jackson Hilaire, said at least seven people were killed and more than 100 injured in Port-de-Paix.

Another four people died in and around the town of Gros-Morne further south, including a boy struck by a falling building, said mayor Jean Renel Tide.

Le Nouvelliste newspaper said one person was killed when an auditorium collapsed in Gros-Morne and that detainees were released from a police holding cell that was damaged.

The tremor also damaged the facade of a church in the town of Plaisance and a house next door collapsed, the paper said.

The country's civil protection agency issued a statement saying several people were injured and being treated in hospitals.