Port-au-Prince , Haiti ( CNN ) -- President Rene Preval said Wednesday that in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti , he has heard reports of death tolls ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 -- but he said the true toll is not yet known . `` Let 's say that it 's too early to give a number , '' he told CNN 's Sanjay Gupta at the airport in Port-au-Prince . Preval made his comments after touring the damage . `` You have to see it to believe it , '' he said . `` Lots of houses destroyed , hospitals , schools , personal homes -- a lot of people in the street , dead . '' Nearly 24 hours after the earthquake , injured people remain on the street . `` We do n't have the capacity to bring them to the hospital , '' Preval said . A priority is to clean up the streets , which are clogged with abandoned cars and collapsed buildings , so that rescue workers can do their work , he said . Preval said he himself had not been spared . `` I can not live in the palace ; I can not live in my own house , '' he said . `` The two collapsed . '' He added that he did not know where he was going to sleep Wednesday night , but was not worried . `` I have plenty of time to look for a bed , '' he said late in the afternoon . `` But now I am working on how to rescue the people . Sleeping is not the problem . '' He called on the international community to be generous . `` We need doctors , we need medicine , we need medical help in general , '' he said . Preval said he was confident the capital of the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere would not erupt in violence . `` The people understand the situation , and they see that everybody is doing their best to help them , '' he said . Asked what he wanted to tell the world , Preval said , `` I want to thank all the countries that have started to help us , '' and then he went through a list that included the United States , France , Canada , Cuba , Venezuela , Argentina , Dominican Republic and Israel .
President Rene Preval says it is too early to know how many killed by quake . He says priority is to clear the streets so aid vehicles can get through . The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Mexico's Pacific coast at 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, killing more than 200 people and injuring hundreds more.