The International Committee of the Red Cross has set up a missing persons database that can be used to track the whereabouts of loved ones. A Haitian-American family in Philadelphia is getting text messages from their uncle in Delmas who is seeking relief aid at the Diatsu dealership there. They have posted an appeal at CNN.com

New England Cable News covered tonight's emergency meeting held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End. Related: Menino, state leaders roll out plans for Haiti response

City to open resource center for local families and offer direct outreach to Haiti Editor's note: The following is a press release issued by Mayor Tom Menino's office at 5:40 p.m. today: Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced this afternoon that the City of Boston, in conjunction with a number of community partners, would begin mobilizing resources to assist the victims and families impacted by the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday. In an outreach effort aimed directly at victims in Haiti as well as local families with

Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Paul Kirk are calling on President Barack Obama to lift a ban on granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to all Haitian nationals now living in the U.S. , Kerry and Kirk joined 13 other senators in issuing a letter to the president this afternoon. The letter follows an announcement made by the Office of Homeland Security earlier in the day that said the U.S. would halt "returns" of illegal Haitian immigrants to Haiti "for the time being." That brief statement made no mention of revising the TPS policy.

On the anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the Reporter goes back into its archives for a look at how we covered those first hours. Below is a record of that coverage, starting just minutes after word reached Boston. Tuesday, Jan. 12 (5:50 p.m.)- Haiti, a country besieged by deadly hurricanes and grinding poverty, has experienced yet another catastrophic natural disaster today. CNN is reporting that the island nation has been rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered some 10 miles off the coast of the capitol Port-au-Prince. Kenson Calixte, a Haitian-American from Abington, has talked to two relatives on the ground in Delmas, a community about 15 miles from Port-au-Prince. Calixte said they reported widespread devestation, including a hotel that had collapsed. "My uncle said he'd never felt anything like this before," said Calixte. "The house shook and there was much damage inside the house. There are houses that have collapsed in his neighborhood." "My cousin thinks there are casualties there at the hotel. He was walking the street saying there are a lot of people hurt."