Minutes after last night's devastating earthquake in Haiti, Twitter and other social networking sites were abuzz with witness accounts, photographs and appeals for help.

Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-born musician and record producer – who used much of the wealth generated by the success of the band The Fugees to set up Yele Haiti, a charity to improve living conditions in the Caribbean country – was among the first to launch an appeal for financial aid through Twitter. In his latest tweet, he is waiting for a plane to take him to Haiti via the Dominican Republic.

Jean's appeal uses a reverse-charge text number for users in the United States. His Twitter page has 1.3 million followers.

In Haiti itself, Carel Pedre, a local celebrity DJ and TV presenter, has been offering his eyewitness reports to international news organisations such as the BBC and CNN via his Twitter feed. His images of the aftermath of the disaster have been picked up by the Associated Press.

Mr Pedre's tweets consist of offers to help contact worried Haitians abroad. Such has been the response that his latest entry reads: "Facebook Get Rid Of My 5K Friends Limit Now! I Have more than 2,000 Requests From Haitians All Over The World Who Want To Know What's Going on".

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