KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding have both expressed their condolences to the people of Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the country on Saturday. 

So far, emergency officials in the Caribbean country said at least 29 people were killed in the quake, according to the Associated Press.

The quake, which hit about 7:29am along the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden Fault that runs through Haiti and Jamaica, was felt in other Caribbean Islands including Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Holness, in sharing photographs of the earthquake damage in Haiti on his Facebook page, sent his prayers to not only the people of Haiti but other territories that may have been affected by the earth tremor. 

“My prayers are with the people of Haiti and other affected territories who were this morning shaken by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault,” he wrote.

For his part, Golding called on the international community to move swiftly in rendering assistance to the people of Haiti.

“Haiti seems to have suffered major damage from this morning’s earthquake,” Golding wrote in a Facebook post, adding “Our hearts go out to the Haitian people with sympathy and solidarity as they endure the aftermath of this tragic event. The international community must assist as quickly and generously as possible. #HelpHaiti.”

In the aftermath of the earthquake, social media videos showed several collapsed buildings in the southwestern peninsula of Haiti, where it is reported that the quake was mostly felt. 

The United States Geological Survey, in the meantime, is reporting that the casualties from the earthquake are probably “high” and “the disaster widespread”.