Yvonne Martin was among a group of people who travelled to Haiti to provide medical support to rural communities. (Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church)

An Elmira, Ont., nurse who arrived in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince less than two hours before a earthquake devastated the island nation has been killed.

Yvonne Martin of Elmira, a rural community located just north of the Kitchener-Waterloo area, was one of seven nurses who arrived in the country just 90 minutes before the quake hit on Tuesday afternoon, the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada told CBC News.

She was the only member of the group who did not survive the quake.

The church confirmed it found out this morning that she had been killed when the guest house she was staying in collapsed.

"We are deeply saddened by this loss and wish to express our sincere sympathy to her family," Phil Delsaut, president of the church, said in a statement. "We also extend our sympathy to the families of other foreign relief workers injured or missing and to the people of Haiti affected by this disaster."

The group went to the island to provide "medical care and support in several northern Haitian communities," the church said. All the members of the group are believed to be from the Elmira area.

'Classic old-time nurse'

"She was very well integrated into the community and certainly in the office here, so the mood is just very sad and upsetting today," said Dr. Michael Norris at the Elmira Medical Clinic.

Martin retired a couple of years ago after 36 years at the Elmira clinic and started her humanitarian aid work, but was quick to help with the centre's H1N1 clinics last fall.

"She was a very professional nurse and wouldn't say 'no' if we asked her for help or to stay later, and really gave of herself," he said.

"She was outwardly caring, interested — a real classic old-time nurse."

Harold Albrecht, the Conservative MP for Kitchener-Conestoga, posted a notice on his website saying his thoughts and prayers are with the Martin family.

"Although I did not know Yvonne personally, there are ties between our extended families that go back many years," Albrecht wrote.

The major quake, which had a magnitude of 7.0, struck Tuesday afternoon and has left Port-au-Prince in ruins.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN Wednesday the death toll from the earthquake that rocked his country could be "well over 100,000."

With files from The Canadian Press