Les Cayes, Haiti’s third-largest city and the closest major urban center to the August 2021 earthquake epicenter, bore some of the heaviest destruction, with thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed, historic structures reduced to rubble, and a population in shock from the sudden catastrophe. Images of collapsed concrete buildings, displaced families in makeshift outdoor shelters, and overwhelmed medical workers circulated around the world.
The city’s hospital, already operating under severe resource constraints before the earthquake, was overwhelmed within hours of the disaster. Patients with crush injuries, fractures, and internal trauma arrived faster than medical staff could treat them. Doctors and nurses performed procedures in parking lots and on the street as the building itself was damaged and its capacity saturated. Medical supply shortages that had been chronic became acute.
The historic Sacred Heart church, one of Les Cayes’ most beloved landmarks, suffered significant structural damage in the earthquake, its ornate colonial-era architecture unable to withstand the violent shaking. Churches and schools that had been the social anchors of communities across the region were damaged or destroyed, adding cultural and social loss to the human and material toll.
Communities in the rural areas around Les Cayes often experienced even more severe damage than the city itself. Remote villages built of unreinforced masonry were particularly vulnerable to the earthquake’s shaking, and many were entirely or nearly destroyed. Reaching these communities in the days after the earthquake required major logistical efforts along damaged roads through difficult mountain terrain.