*Naomi Osaka has announced that she will donate the prize money from an upcoming tournament to help relief efforts in Haiti following Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
“Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break,” Osaka, 23, wrote on social media Saturday. The father of the tennis star is from the island nation.
“I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti,” she added, referring to the Western & Southern Open, as reported by PEOPLE. “I know our ancestors blood is strong we’ll keep rising.”
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The earthquake has reportedly killed over 700 people. As previously reported, the devastation comes in the wake of the assassination of Haiti‘s President Jovenel Moïse at his home last month.
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake’s epicenter was about 7.5 miles from the southern town of Saint-Louis du Sud, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It had a depth of 6.2 miles.
The quake reportedly caused significant damage in the country’s south, where Haitians shared photos on social media that showed collapsed buildings.
Haiti’s Civil Protection told CNN there have been fatalities and damage. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, residents said their homes were rattled.
“Earthquakes mean massive destruction here in Haiti,” said Monique Clesca, a former United Nations official and writer who lives in Port-au-Prince, told the Wall Street Journal. “We are trying to find out about friends and family in the affected areas.”
Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break. I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti. I know our ancestors blood is strong we’ll keep rising ????????❤️????????
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 14, 2021
“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble. We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Saturday, per the Associated Press. “The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter, and psychological support.”
Haiti suffered a deadly earthquake in 2010 that reportedly killed 200,000 people.
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