Thousands feared dead asmajor quake rocks Haiti

---

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 13 (Reuters): A major earthquake rocked Haiti, killing possibly thousands of people as it toppled the presidential palace and hillside shanties alike and leaving the poor Caribbean nation appealing for international help.
A five-story UN building was also brought down Tuesday by the 7.0 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the US Geological Survey.
Reuters television footage from the capital, Port-au-Prince, showed scenes of chaos on the streets with people sobbing and appearing dazed amid the rubble.
The quake's epicenter was only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, which has a population of about 1 million, and aftershocks as powerful as 5.9 rattled the city throughout the night and into Wednesday. Reports on casualties and damage were slow to get out of Haiti due to communication problems.
As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is ill-equipped to respond to such a disaster.
"I am appealing to the world, especially the United States, to do what they did for us back in 2008 when four hurricanes hit Haiti," Raymond Alcide Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to Washington, said in a CNN interview.
"At that time the US dispatched ... a hospital ship off the coast of Haiti. I hope that will be done again ... and help us in this dire situation that we find ourselves in. I'm asking the Haitians who are abroad to work together and bring all the effort in a concerted manner to help those back home."
Sara Fajardo, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, told the Los Angeles Times that it's representative in Haiti said the death toll could be in the thousands.
US President Barack Obama said his 'thoughts and prayers' were with the people of Haiti and pledged immediate aid. A late-night White House meeting involving various arms of the government was held to coordinate the US response.
The Inter-American Development Bank said it would provide $200,000 in immediate emergency aid. The World Bank, which said its local offices were destroyed but that most staff were accounted for, plans to send a team to help Haiti assess damage and plan a recovery.
The US Coast Guard in Miami said it had mobilized cutters and aircraft to positions close to Haiti to give humanitarian assistance as needed.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement on Wednesday France was sending rescue services to help operations in Haiti and find French citizens there.
The quake hit at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT), and witnesses reported people screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' running into the streets as offices, hotels, houses and shops collapsed. Experts said the quake's epicenter was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles, which was likely to have magnified the destruction.
The presidential palace lay in ruins, its domes fallen on top of flattened walls. CNN reported on its website that Haitian Ambassador Joseph said President Rene Preval was safe, but gave no further details.