According to Hildegard Epstein Cassis, the earthquake damage has been most felt in the towns of Petit Troue de Nippes, Les Cayes, Cavallion, Camperin, Les Anglais and Jérémie.

“Some roads have been blocked, but the government and companies are working together to unblock them. A lot of aid was also transported by helicopter and plane, such as medicine, blood and food,” they added.

Portugal's honorary consul in Haiti expects a more detailed damage assessment throughout the day.

According to a provisional assessment by Haiti's civil protection services, the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit southwestern Haiti on Saturday left 1,297 dead and more than 5,700 injured.

In addition to the people reported missing, "many others are under the rubble," the Civil Protection said in a statement, specifying that close to 3,200 wounded were admitted to various hospitals.

On Sunday, the office of the Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities, Berta Nunes, had said that all Portuguese citizens who are in Haiti “are doing well and were not affected by the earthquake”.

Contacted by Lusa, a source at the office of the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) "is monitoring the situation through the Portuguese embassy in Havana."

According to the same source, it was already possible "to ascertain that all national citizens who are in Haiti are well and were not affected by the earthquake".

The earthquake, which was also felt in the Dominican Republic (with which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola) and in Cuba, and which is already part of the ten deadliest earthquakes in the last 25 years in Latin America, occurred at 8:29 am local time (13:29 from Lisbon), about 12 kilometres from the city of Saint-Louis-du-Sud, located 160 kilometres from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, with an epicenter 10 kilometres deep, according to data from the Institute North American Geophysics (USGS).

Many countries, including the United States, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador, have already offered assistance, sending personnel, emergency rations and medical equipment.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who declared a state of emergency in the four departments affected by the catastrophe, today thanked the international community.