Powerful Earthquake in Haiti

[CultureKing]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8455629.stm


Haiti rocked by powerful 7.3 earthquake
Map

A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Haiti, rocking the capital and sparking a tsunami alert for neighbouring states.

The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT), about 15km (10m) south-west of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said.

Haiti's envoy to the US said it was a "catastrophe of major proportions" as reports from the capital spoke of casualties and damage.

A hospital and other buildings are reported to have collapsed.

A visiting US official told AP the sky in the city was "just grey with dust" and he could hear distant screaming.

The low-lying impoverished state has been plagued by natural disasters.

The quake was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect "coasts located usually no more than a 100km [60 miles] from the earthquake epicentre".

A tsunami watch was in effect for Haiti, the neighbouring Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas.

'Rubble and wire'

Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, told CNN: "I think it is really a catastrophe of major proportions."

He said he had just spoken to a government colleague in Port-au-Prince.

An AP cameraman saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hilly suburb of the capital, and Henry Bahn, a visiting official from the US Department of Agriculture, said he had seen houses which had tumbled into a ravine.

"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Mr Bahn.

He had, he continued, been walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.

"I just held on and bounced across the wall," he said.

"I just hear a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance."

Rocks, he added, were strewn all over the place, and the ravine where several homes had fallen in was "just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire".

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Could this lead to further destabilization in Haiti?
Likely the death toll will at least be in the hundreds...

[patrick1]

Yeah, this is going to be bad in a country with such poor infrastructure.

[memphis]

Wow. Haiti was already the worst place on earth. Hopefully, the nations of the world help them through this.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Wow. Haiti was already the worst place on earth. Hopefully, the nations of the world help them through this.

DR Congo says hi. Though yeah Haiti is not exactly a great place either..

[Lunar]

In related news, Haiti experienced two coups, one rigged election, and one counter-coup before the shaking had ceased.

[bgwah]

Ouch.

[Bo]

Wow. Haiti was already the worst place on earth. Hopefully, the nations of the world help them through this.

[J. J.]

My cousin does medical missionary work done there and funds two clinics.  He is up here, but they can't reach one of them, about six miles from the epicenter.

[Lunar]

this is going to suck, big time.

I didn't even realize the Caribbean was along a fault line, but a lot of bodies are going to show up tomorrow. 

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

wow, what a disaster.  looks like most of the leadership is also dead.  I hope the DRepublic wasn't also damaged, my family supports a child who lives there thru Compassion International.

[minionofmidas]

Oh dear.

This was, apparently, the worst earthquake in the Caribbean for several centuries - things had, by longterm standards, been rather quiet these past 300 years.
Which incidentally means nothing's built earthquake-safe, and geologists had been warning of an impending major quake without being able to tell anybody where it was most likely to hit (lack of data due to a lack of major earthquakes over the recent past).

EDIT: Okay, ponder this: Electricity is down, so's the phone service - both landlines and, at least for a lot of the area, mobile. But the internet is working.

[J. J.]

wow, what a disaster.  looks like most of the leadership is also dead.  I hope the DRepublic wasn't also damaged, my family supports a child who lives there thru Compassion International.

The President survived. 

It was fairly distant from Dominican border, almost on the west coast of Haiti.

[Joe Republic]

Okay, ponder this: Electricity is down, so's the phone service - both landlines and, at least for a lot of the area, mobile. But the internet is working.

Satellite? 

[John Dibble]

Well that sucks.

Wow. Haiti was already the worst place on earth. Hopefully, the nations of the world help them through this.

DR Congo says hi. Though yeah Haiti is not exactly a great place either..

North Korea also demands your attention. Failure to do so will result in you and your family being sent to a labor camp.

[Lunar]

Just that count of foreign nationals known to be dead makes me wonder how many Haitians died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake#Casualties

a lot, probably. 

[J. J.]

The PM said 100,000 from the damage, but that might be hyperbole.  It might not be from the problems that will follow.

[J. J.]

Archbishop Miot's body was found in the wreckage, and UN Mission Head Annabi is missing.

[J. J.]

The port is severely damaged, but usable by smaller ships.  There is an oil spill.

The tower at the airport collapsed, but the runway is usable.

[J. J.]

The clinic administrator and his family survived.    His house was nearly destroyed.  

The suburb of Carrefour has been destroyed.

[Hash]

Brazil seems the most pro-active about foreign aid (probably because they're the largest armed force in Haiti) and humanitarian relief. A welcome change from the usual sh**t and fluff of "our prayers" and "our deepest sympathies".

[Lunar]

I'm not sure if there are that many poorer, less densely populated, and less prepared places for a big earthquake to happen, where such an earthquake is ill a possibility.  Sure, a 7.0 in downtown Shanghai would kill a lot of people, but a lot of places along fault lines possess more money, are more aware, and better prepare their buildings against this sort of catastrophe.

Could this city actually be in the top 3-5 worst places for a big earthquake to happen where a big earthquake CAN happen?  I'm not a geologist, but it's hard for me to imagine too many places without the ability to prepare for something like this but with the desperate need to prepare for something like this...Mogadishu?  Karachi?  It doesn't add up to a lot of places.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I'm not sure if there are that many poorer, less densely populated, and less prepared places for a big earthquake to happen, where such an earthquake is ill a possibility.  Sure, a 7.0 in downtown Shanghai would kill a lot of people, but a lot of places along fault lines possess more money, are more aware, and better prepare their buildings against this sort of catastrophe.

Could this city actually be in the top 3-5 worst places for a big earthquake to happen where a big earthquake CAN happen?  I'm not a geologist, but it's hard for me to imagine too many places without the ability to prepare for something like this but with the desperate need to prepare for something like this...Mogadishu?  Karachi?  It doesn't add up to a lot of places.

Istanbul could be good candidate for Olympics 2020, but, euh, for what you're speaking about too, actually.

[J. J.]

My cousin is hearing from some more of his staff, but still many have not been contacted.  They don't know if the clinic survived.

The clinic is about two miles west of Carrefour.  Carrefour has been reported to be "gone."

http://open.salon.com/blog/chantal_laurent/2010/01/12/haiti_earthquake_disaster_info

[J. J.]

This might violate policy, but I hope not.

As I've indicated, my cousin runs a Christian based health clinic in Haiti.  It is medical missionary work.  It was about miles of epicenter.

If any of you would like to make a donation, just PM me, and I'll give you the website.  Yes, it was the local news in Phila tonight; it is based in NJ.

Donations are tax deductible, and they are interested in material aid as well, including:

Food:  Powder Millk, Powder Baby Formula, Dry Rice, Dry Beans

Medicine:  Acetaminophen (all strengths), Ibuprofen (all strengths), Multivitamins (adult and children), Creams:  antibiotic, antifungal, hydrocortisone, Sterile Gauze, Prescription Antibiotics

Laptop Computers, Generators

They have been running it for about 11 years.



 

[J. J.]

Death toll now estimated at 100,000.