Shortly after an earthquake hit very close to Port-au-Prince Haiti, today, Haitian musician Wyclef Jean began to mobilize support for the victims through his Twitter account. The earthquake—the strongest to have hit the Caribbean in 200 years—has apparently caused widespread devastation in the city.

The singer/songwriter, who often leads fundraising efforts for his homeland, took to his Twitter.com account online to alert everyone to the news as details broke on Tuesday afternoon. He wrote, “Haiti just got hit with a Major EarthQuake please call your family out there Now.” Less than an hour later, he followed that tweet with an update and a plea for support. He wrote, “Tsunami watch n haiti right now! People unite… Haiti just been hit again with a 5 point 9 earthquake! Please Pray.” Wyclef was urging Twitter.com followers to donate money to his Yele Haiti charity organisation: “Please text ‘Yele’ to 501501 to donate $5 to YELE HAITI. Your money will help with relief efforts. They need our help… please help if you can.” Donations can be made to Jean’s Yele Haiti foundation at http://www.yele.org/.

You can hit up Wyclef’s verified Twitter account for more details. You can also make a donation of $5 by texting the word “yele” (with no quotation marks) to 501501.

For emerging photos of the damage in Port-au-Prince you can go to CNN’s i-reports at http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=381090