HE Inter-American Development Bank announced an immediate emergency aid donation of $US200,000 ($217,000) to Haiti in the wake of today's catastrophic earthquake.
The international organisation, which was established to support Latin American and Caribbean economic and social development, announced the immediate grant.
France is preparing to urgently dispatch aid to Haiti, while the American Jewish World Service also announced it is collecting donations in response to the massive earthquake.
The poverty-stricken Caribbean nation was hit by a huge earthquake measuring 7.0 toppling buildings, causing widespread damage and potentially killing thousands.
Raphaelle Chenet, the administrator of Mercy and Sharing, a charity that takes care of 109 orphans, said she saw about 10 dead bodies in the street after the quake struck.
"I saw dead bodies, people are screaming, they are on the street panicking, people are hurt," she told The Wall Street Journal.
"There are a lot of wounded, broken heads, broken arms."
The United Nations peacekeeping headquarters on the island was destroyed.
It is not known if there were UN casualties, as the organisation is having trouble with communication difficulties.
The Haitian Ambassador to the US, Raymond Alcide Joseph, said there were 7000 UN troops and 2000 UN police in Haiti.
"I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions," he said.
He said he "hopes" the United States Southern Command will assist quickly as they did in 2008, when the military sent amphibious ship USS Kearsage in response to hurricanes and tropical storms.
Mr Joseph also said he hoped the USS Comfort, a US Navy humanitarian aid ship, will be able to come again as it did in 2008.
American President Barack Obama says the United States stood "ready to assist'' Haiti and was still gathering information about the earthquake.
In Hawaii, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said government agencies were "still gathering information about this catastrophic earthquake".
"The United States is offering our full assistance to Haiti and to others in the region. We will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.''
The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake struck 16km from the capital Port-Au-Prince and 27km from the town of Petionville.
Regular aftershocks - including one measuring 5.5 - have been felt in the region, but a tsunami warning issues for the area was canceled within hours of the first major tremor.
The last large-scale earthquake which hit the island nation was in 1984.
It was measured at 6.7 on the Richter scale, with this quake significantly larger.
The international organisation, which was established to support Latin American and Caribbean economic and social development, announced the immediate grant.
France is preparing to urgently dispatch aid to Haiti, while the American Jewish World Service also announced it is collecting donations in response to the massive earthquake.
The poverty-stricken Caribbean nation was hit by a huge earthquake measuring 7.0 toppling buildings, causing widespread damage and potentially killing thousands.
Raphaelle Chenet, the administrator of Mercy and Sharing, a charity that takes care of 109 orphans, said she saw about 10 dead bodies in the street after the quake struck.
"I saw dead bodies, people are screaming, they are on the street panicking, people are hurt," she told The Wall Street Journal.
"There are a lot of wounded, broken heads, broken arms."
The United Nations peacekeeping headquarters on the island was destroyed.
It is not known if there were UN casualties, as the organisation is having trouble with communication difficulties.
The Haitian Ambassador to the US, Raymond Alcide Joseph, said there were 7000 UN troops and 2000 UN police in Haiti.
"I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions," he said.
He said he "hopes" the United States Southern Command will assist quickly as they did in 2008, when the military sent amphibious ship USS Kearsage in response to hurricanes and tropical storms.
Mr Joseph also said he hoped the USS Comfort, a US Navy humanitarian aid ship, will be able to come again as it did in 2008.
American President Barack Obama says the United States stood "ready to assist'' Haiti and was still gathering information about the earthquake.
In Hawaii, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said government agencies were "still gathering information about this catastrophic earthquake".
"The United States is offering our full assistance to Haiti and to others in the region. We will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.''
The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake struck 16km from the capital Port-Au-Prince and 27km from the town of Petionville.
Regular aftershocks - including one measuring 5.5 - have been felt in the region, but a tsunami warning issues for the area was canceled within hours of the first major tremor.
The last large-scale earthquake which hit the island nation was in 1984.
It was measured at 6.7 on the Richter scale, with this quake significantly larger.
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