"Help Haiti" is the cry that's been tweeted and retweeted over and over, with the tag remaining a trending topic on the social-messaging website Twitter for most of the day of Wednesday.
International aid groups are rushing to get relief workers and supplies to Haiti after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday. The Red Cross says up to 3 million people may have been affected.
Paul Conneally, head of media at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that although the Red Cross was on the ground in Haiti, "our ability to operate effectively is hugely constrained with massive logistical problems caused by the earthquake".
"We need to bring in emergency field hospitals and all of the emergency pain medicines that will be needed. Added to that we need to support search and rescue operations ... there is a very short window in which to save lives."
Celebrities have sought to join their voices to the appeals for assistance.
Texting "HAITI" to "90999" to donate $10 to the Red Cross or "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti are the top ways of contributing aid to the quake-stricken country, according to Chris Sacca's blog post Six ways you can help in Haiti.
Yele Haiti is the aid orgnaisation founded by musician Wyclef Jean (@wyclef) to assist his country of origin.
Shortly after news of the quake broke, Wyclef issued an urgent appeal for help:
“Haiti today faced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake – and several very strong aftershocks – struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.
I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now.
President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands ‘ready to assist’ the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible.”
Jen Corlew, the head of news for the UK-based charity Oxfam, told Al Jazeera from London that they too were launching an emergency appeal to get supplies in as quickly as possible.
(Updated with video)
The group has also been campaigning on Twittter and contributing to Haiti Quake Updates, a Posterous blog set up by "aid workers and journalists in Haiti".
To better track the developments on the ground, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has also partnered with Ushahidi, a crowd-sourced crisis reporting platform.
The tracking map can be updated by the public via sms, email, Twitter or via, and tracks emergency situations, threats, and responses.
The US State Department has also set up the following number for US citizens seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747
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