According to the Washington Post,

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Haiti devastated parts of the impoverished island nation Tuesday, leveling a hospital in the capital, severely damaging the U.N. headquarters and other buildings, and sending panicked residents into the streets.

In Port-au-Prince, Zelenka, the relief agency director, said that the walls of the CRS headquarters had collapsed but that the building was “only twisted” and that employees were able to get out safely. He said he hoped a contingent of more than 8,000 U.N. troops stationed in the country would be able to help by daybreak.

“Haiti is not used to earthquakes,” he said. “There is no earth-moving equipment available.”

Kristie van de Wetering, a former Oxfam employee still based in Port-au-Prince, described the situation as “very chaotic, with houses in rubble everywhere.”

“There is a blanket of dust rising from the valley south of the capital,” van de Wetering said. “We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous.”

The quake hit about the time that children would be coming home from school, and it was not immediately known whether students had made it home by then or how their houses had fared in the long and powerful temblor.

In an interview with CNN from Port-au-Prince, eyewitness Michael Bazile described panic in a severely damaged city.

“Everybody is on the street. The traffic is jammed,” he said. “Everybody is yelling. They are praying. They are crying. Many houses are down. We really don’t know what’s going on. And every 30 minutes, we feel it again. We pray it’s over, but we don’t know.”

According to this live blog from Haiti,

Thousands of people are currently trapped. To guess at a number would be like guessing at raindrops in the ocean. Precious lives hang in the balance. When pulled from the rubble there is no place to take them for care Haiti has an almost non existent medical care system for her people.

When the quake hit it took many seconds to even process what was happening. The house was rocking back and forth in a way that I cannot even begin to describe.  It felt fake. It felt like a movie. Things were crashing all over the house. It felt like the world was ending. I do not know why my house stands and my children all lie sleeping in their beds right now. It defies logic and my babies were spared while thousands of others were not.

The horror has only just begun and I beg you to get on your knees – I truly mean ON YOUR KNEES and pray for the people of this country. The news might forget in a few days – but people will still be trapped alive and suffering. Pray. Pray. Pray. After that – PLEASE PRAY.