Forty soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown are joining the Canadian relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

They left from the Fredericton Airport late Wednesday night to meet up with a contingent at CFB Trenton, said Lt. Ian McIntyre.

"From there they're going to head out to Haiti."

It's not yet clear if more soldiers from Gagetown will be deploying to help with the relief efforts, McIntyre said.

"Right now we're just following the lead from the Department of Foriegn Affairs and international trade and supporting in whatever capacity we can," he said.

The International Red Cross has estimated three million people - a third of the population - may need emergency relief that includes shelter, food and clean water.

The death toll from Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude quake is still unclear, but Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN Wednesday that it could be "well over 100,000."

Gagetown, one of the largest military bases in Canada, is about 20 kilometres from Fredericton.