At 21:53GMT on Tuesday, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was hit by its strongest earthquake in more than 200 years, causing what is being described as "a catastrophe of major proportions".
Heavy casualties are feared after numerous buildings were levelled by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
This blog post, previously named "Haiti Earthquake: Latest updates", followed events in the immediate aftermath of quake.
Update | 18GMT: An Air China flight has landed in the capital Port-au-Prince, ferrying a Chinese search-and-rescue team, medical personnel and tons of food and medicine.
Three French planes also brought in supplies and a mobile hospital, Brazilian relief workers offerred 15 tonnes of food and the United States is pledging $100m for aid relief in the wake of Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
The first contingent of US forces - about 100 soldiers - are also due to arrive in Haiti on Thursday to "provide humanitarian assistance and relief and security as required".
Almost two days on from when the quake struck, very limited help has reached those affected and little is known about a final casualty toll - believed to be in the tens of thousands.
The Red Cross in Haiti fears up to 50,000 people were killed.
[Warning: Viewers may find some of the images in the following video distressing]
Update | Thursday, 13GMT: The World Bank has said it will provide an additional $100m in emergency aid to Haiti as governments and aid groups step up efforts to help the Caribbean country in the aftermath of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
The UN mission there has been severely hit by the earthquake that levelled much of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
Scores of UN workers are missing after the mission's headquarters and other buildings collapsed.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said 16 of the world body's personnel were confirmed dead late Wednesday, and 100 to 150 were still unaccounted for.
Haiti's residents have, meanwhile, turned to social networking websites to make appeals for news of loved ones or plead for aid for victims.
The country is one of the the poorest in the Western hemisphere. Its history has been marked not only by natural disasters, but by political and economic conflict:
As part of its continuing coverage of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, Global Voices has launched a special page highlighting local bloggers and other resources.
Crisis-reporting platform Ushahidi has also expanded their tracking map (in partnership with UN OCHA/Colombia) to include latest #Haiti tweets on Haiti, photos from Flickr and videos from YouTube.
Update | 20:24GMT: (Reuters) - Hedi Annabi, the chief of the UN mission in Haiti, was killed in the earthquake, Rene Preval, Haiti's president, said.
"Ambassador Annabi died. We send our sympathy and condolences to all the international community," Preval told journalists in Port-au-Prince.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, had said earlier that he could not confirm reports Annabi had died.
Update | 19:02GMT: If you've heard any news from Haiti, have any video or images or just want to tell us what you think about the catastrophe hitting the country - wed like to hear from you.
Tell us about yourself - your name, your age and your nationality, and we'll post the best one online, or show them on air. We're looking forward to hearing from you.
Update | 16:32GMT: (AFP) - The death toll from the Haiti earthquake could top 100,000, Jean-Max Bellerive, the Haitian prime minister, told CNN on Wednesday.
The final death toll could be "well over 100,000", Bellerive told the US television channel.
"I hope that is not true, because I hope the people had the time to get out. Because we have so [many] people on the streets right now, we don't know exactly where they were living.
"But so many, so many buildings, so many neighbourhoods [have been] totally destroyed, and [in] some neighbourhoods we don't even see people, so I don't know where those people are."
Update | 16:32GMT: (Reuters) - US Navy ships at bases along the East Coast have been told to be prepared to leave for Haiti, defence officials have said.
The United States could also begin using C-130 aircraft to start flying emergency supplies to Haiti later on Wednesday, the officials said.
Update | 15:19GMT: Haitian President René Préval says the scene in Port-au-Prince is "unimaginable", with thousands of people believed dead after the quake.
"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."
Update | 14:59GMT: (AFP) - The first three US rescue teams will depart Wednesday for Haiti to help the Caribbean nation cope with a devastating earthquake, a State Department spokesman said.
Canada said it was sending a plane to quake stricken Haiti on Wednesday with medical equipment and a relief and rescue force.
Update | 14:29GMT: The Guardian has launched an interactive Flash map showing the areas of Haiti worst-affected by the quake.
Update | 14:05GMT:(AP) - UN says airport in Haiti's capital is operational after earthquake; aid to start arriving.
Update | 13:54GMT: Barack Obama, the US president, is due to make a statement on Haiti from the White House in just over an hour, at 15GMT (10am EST).
US State Department, meanwhile, has set up the following number for US citizens seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747
Update | 13:46GMT: Georgia Popplewell, the managing director of Global Voices who is also based in the Caribbean, has put together a list of people who are sending Twitter updates from Haiti:
Update | 13:33GMT: Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, speaking from UN headquarters in New York says that hundreds of people are feared dead after the quake.
He said the earthquake had a devastating impact on Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, and that the head of the UN mission there, as well as his deputy, are missing.
Update | 13:20GMT: Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, addressed journalists at a news conference in Washington, DC. appealing on behalf of the government for a hospital ship to help tend to the wounded.
The following are excerpts from his statement:
"The palace and quite a few government buildings have collapsed [but] the silver lining is the earthquake hit after closing hours, so most employees of the state were already out of the buildings.
We were able to get through to the First Lady ... she said please ask the US, ask the world to send a hospital ship. It is a must for us now because some of the hospitals have been affected.
She also asked for first responders, people who can come in for first response to the living or the dead.
It is a catastrophe … Haitian people will come out of it in unity. In the mean time, I'm asking for international solidarity with Haiti … For those who helped in the 1800s for Haiti to become independent.
I’m asking the Haitian community abroad to get together … to start getting resources together. It is not something that will be resolved overnight, and for sure we will need their help.
Update | 13:03GMT: Sebastian Walker, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Santo Domingo, capital of the neighbouring Dominican Republic, reports:
"We are about 300km from the epicentre of the earthquake, and we know that the UN agencies and the humanitarian groups here are trying to get together some kind of strategy to get aid over to Haiti. We know that there are trucks loaded with supplies ready to go but the difficulty is that no-one really knows how to get that aid to the people [effectively].
"We are just outside a military base here - the Domincan Republic's military has a cargo plane loaded with aid ... that plane is ready to take off but no one knows whether it is able to land or not. Helicopters have been sent to assess the damage to [a] runway [in Haiti], to see if it can land. Frankly, if the aid has to go [by road] after an earthquake the size of what happened in Haiti, it is going to be very difficult to get those supplies in. The roads are said to be impassable."
Update | 12:38GMT: (AFP) - The Tunisian head of UN peacekeepers in Haiti and "all those around him" are believed dead after their headquarters collapsed in the huge earthquake there, France's foreign minister said Wednesday.
"The building of the UN peace mission... collapsed and it would appear that all those who were in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi ... and that all those who were with him and around him are dead," Bernard Kouchner told RTL radio.
Update | 12:29GMT: Al Jazeera's meteorologist, Steff Gaulter, explains what made the Caribbean nation of Haiti so susceptible to such a devastating earthquake. More explanation here.
Update | 11:44GMT: Jen Corlew, the head of news for the UK-based charity Oxfam, told Al Jazeera from London:
"We managed to get through to one of our staffers in Haiti and they confirmed that the houses are down to rubble, there is a massive cloud of dust covering the south of the capital and she's hearing cries for help from all quarters.
There is a lot of concern about what is going to happen with the ongoing aftershocks and the capital is still under cover of darkness so we will be hearing a lot more very soon.
Oxfam has been operating in Haiti for several decades now. Lucky we have a team of 100 staff and our emergency response team is mobilising now and heading out to provide fresh water, blankets and other things that are needed.
We are launching an emergency appeal to get those crucial supplies in as quickly as possible.
Update | 11:35GMT: Shane Hackett and Frantz St Germain of The Global Orphan Project have posted a video on YouTube from the day of the earthquake, from Les Cayes, Haiti.
Update | 11: 31GMT: (Reuters) - Brazilian army says four Brazilian peacekeepers confirmed killed in the Haiti earthquake, large number still missing.
Update | 11: 16GMT: (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Wednesday ordered that the Roman Catholic Church's extensive worldwide charity network be immediately activated to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Update | 11:02GMT: Paul Conneally, the Head of Media at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, talked to Al Jazeera about relief efforts in Haiti and the "massive logistical problems".
"Fortunately the Red Cross are already present on the ground, both with an international presence and with our local partners the Haitian Red Cross.
Nevertheless, even for those on the ground our ability to operate effectively is hugely constrained with massive logisitical problems caused by the earthquake.
We are focusing primarily on supporting life saving efforts, in terms of emergency efforts and search and rescue.
What we are hearing is not very appetising I am afraid, we are seeing a lot of physical damage to our properties, to our warehouses, there is an inability to move around, and confusion as well.
Let us remember, Haitians are not used to earthquakes.
An earthquake has really taken them by surprise and this is really contributing to the chaotic situation right now. It is a matter of trying to restore calm and address the most urgent needs.
We have reports of some of the most important hospitals in Port-au-Prince have been severely impacted by the earthquake. Other hospitals are operational, but are turning people away because they are compeltely overwhelmed.
We need to bring in emergency field hospitals and all of the emrgency pain medicines that will be needed. Added to that we need to support serach and rescue operations ... there is a very short window in which to save lives."
Update | 10:25GMT: (AFP) - Three Jordanian peacekeepers were killed and 21 wounded in the massive earthquake that rocked Haiti, the army said on Wednesday.
"Major Atta Manasir, Major Asharf Jaiusi and Corporal Raed Khawaldeh of the Jordanian peacekeeping force in Haiti died (in) the earthquake that hit the area on Tuesday night," an army spokesman said in a statement.
"Twenty-one other members of the armed forces were slightly injured in the quake."
Update | 9:56GMT: Global Voices' Janine Mendes-Franco, based in Trinidad and Tobago, has surveyed the scene in the Caribbean blogosphere:
Twitter emerged as the fastest, most time sensitive vehicle through which to report on the catastrophe; Facebook was also full of wall comments on the disaster, from both French and English-speaking Caribbean netizens. One user in Trinidad and Tobago was already collecting “foodstuff, blankets & clothing for Haiti”, asking donors to “label all bags”. Others, like Jamaica-based Annie Paul, quoted lyrics from calypsonian David Rudder's ode to the island: “Haiti, I'm sorry…but one day we'll turn our heads, restore your glory”, following up with links to video of the earthquake, which she found posted on YouTube:
GV's Georgia Poppelwell, also based in the Caribbean, has meanwhile poured over the plethora of Twitter updates from witnesses on the ground.
Among the mass of retweets of mainstream media reports and tweets sending prayers and good wishes to the Caribbean island, have been eyewitness reports from musician and hotelier Richard Morse, who tweets as @RAMHaiti. Morse posted his initial tweet around 6:00pm Haiti time, reporting that:
were ok at the oloffson [the hotel he runs] ..internet is on !! no phones ! hope all are okay..alot of big building in PAP [Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city] are down !
Update | 9:33GMT: Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker is reporting from Santo Domingo in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, and sent the following report:
"We took the last flight from Puerto Rico to Santa Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, which is just next door to Haiti. This city is just 300km from where the earthquake actually struck.
There were quite a lot of people who were desperately trying to get there as fast as possible.
We were actually on the plane with a couple of Roman Catholic nuns who had had a conversation with their sisters in a convent near the border with the Domincian Republic, a cell phone conversation that was actually cut short.
The sister briefed them in the moments after the quake had struck. She said that the entire building had collapsed, one of the sisters was badly injured to the head.
That conversation was cut short and the sisters had not been able to reach them since. There is a string of Roman Catholic convents across the country and they had not been able to get in touch with anyone since.
We have been on the phone with the aid groups here. They are still unsure what their plans are going to be, they are still unsure about what the situation is going to be for landing at the airport at Port-au-Prince.
We were speaking to a pilot who was thinking about sending a flight in and he said he had spoken to a colleague who flew one of the last flights out of Haiti. His colleague took off from Port-au-Prince airport just moments before the earthquake struck.
He lost all communication with the watch tower, then he looked down over the city and there were flames engulfing buildings.
The pilot we were trying to get to take us on a flight to Haiti said he wasn't taking any passengers yet as he wasn't able to get in touch with the control on the ground in Port-au-Prince.The probability is there will be a convoy of UN and other humanitarian groups and we will try to join them and get into the country."
Update | 9:07GMT: The World Food Programme is reporting via Twitter, that land lines in Haiti have been "heavily damaged". Mobile phone networks are reportedly working, but very congested.
Update | 9:01GMT: (AFP) - Eight Chinese peacekeepers were buried in rubble and 10 others were missing after a massive earthquake in Haiti, China's state-run media reported Wednesday.
Update | 8:33GMT: Carel Pedre, a TV and Radio host in Haiti, shares pictures from the quake via Twitter. See more of his pictures on Mashable.com
Update | 7:43GMT:Kevin McCue, the president of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, told Al Jazeera from Melbourne:
"This is a major earthquake. The rupture length is probably in the order of 50 to 70km.
An earthquake like this can be destructive over a distance of over 20 or 30km from the fault itself. So if you have got a 5km long fault and destruction on either side up to about 20km we can expect very serious consequences from this earthquake.
An earthquake like this is particularly destructive when you are so close to unreinforced masonry buildings. I don't imagine that they live in properly reinforced concrete buildings, but even reinforced concrete doesn't stand up very well to that level of shaking.
I imagine there has been serious destruction to their property.
They should stay out of damaged building, that is certainly number one rule now. You wouldn't go into a damaged building unless you went in with a structural engineer and some props to prop it up in case there were any aftershocks.
I think you have to wait until the worst of it is over and in this case that could be weeks."
Update |7:33GMT: Elisabeth Byrs, the spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told Al Jazeera from Geneva in Switzerland:
"We are very concerned because there are many people unaccounted for in the UN peacekeeping mission building, Hotel Christopher.
At working hours there are around 200 to 250 people working there. The earthquake struck at 5pm. We don't know how many people were able to leave or had left at that time.
The Brazilian troops are at the moment securing the area and searching for survivors.
The international newtwork of search and rescue teams has been alerted and are going to be deployed.
We are also about to send an expert team, a disaster expert team.
The UN has already allocated a certain amount of money to kick-start the operation during the night from the UN response fund and we hope that donors will respond to any appeal we might make for the poor people of Haiti."
Update |7:28GMT (AFP) - At least seven South Koreans were missing Wednesday in Haiti after the impoverished Caribbean nation was hit by a strong earthquake, foreign ministry officials said.
Update |7:18GMT - Wednesday (AFP) - Around 200 people were missing after a hotel popular with tourists in the Haiti capital collapsed in the massive earthquake there, a French minister said on radio Europe I.
"I am talking about the Hotel Montana, where tourists stay and French nationals working in Haiti stay. We know there were 300 people inside the hotel when it collapsed, only around 100 have got out," French Secretary of State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet said.
Haiti Facts & Figures:
The Caribbean nation of nine million is the poorest country in the Americas with an annual per-capita income of $560. It ranks 146th out of 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index
More than half the population lives on less than $1 a day and 78 per cent on less than $2. There is a high infant mortality rate and the prevalence of HIV among those between ages 15 and 49 is 2.2 per cent
Haiti's infrastructure is close to total collapse and severe deforestation has left only two per cent of forest cover
About 9,000 UN police and troops are stationed in the country to maintain order.
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