A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

Several eyewitnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where concrete-block homes line steep hillsides. There was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department has been told to expect “serious loss of life,” department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

“The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best,” the ambassador, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN.

Pictures sent to CNN’s iReport show homes and small businesses inHaiti that have collapsed.

(Source: CNN http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html)

Haiti Earthquake – Special Coverage on CNN.com

[Updates]

How to make donation for Haiti Earthquake

—–

World Vision Haiti Earthquake Relief

Online  Donation

Telephone: 866-280-6587

Mail: P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716

American Red CrossOnline: http://www.redcrossstl.org

Telephone: Call 314-516-2782 or 314-516-2800

Text message: Text the word “HAITI” to 90999, and a $10 donation will be given to the Red Cross. The $10 donation will appear on your next mobile bill.

Mail: 10195 Corporate Square, St. Louis, MO 63132-2905

—

Food for the Poor Haiti Earthquake Relief

Online: www.foodforthepoor.org

Telephone: 954-427-2222

Mail: 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073

——

UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Relief

Online: www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake

Telephone: 1-800-4UNICEF

Mail: U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038

—-

Wyclef Jean’s foundation, Yele Haiti.

Online: www.yele.org

Text message: Text “Yele” to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and go toward Hatian relief projects.

Telephone: 212-352-0552

Mail: P.O. Box 2345, New York, NY 10108

—-

Samaritan’s Purse Haiti Earthquake Relief

Online: samaritanspurse.org

Telephone: 800-528-1980

Mail: P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607-3000

—

International Rescue Committee

Online: TheIRC.org

Telephone: 877-REFUGEE

Mail: P.O. Box 96651, Washington, DC 20090-6651

Mail: P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607

—

Catholic Relief Services

Online: CRS.org

Telephone: 800-736-3467

Mail: 228 W. Lexington, Baltimore, MD 21201-3413