From the New York Times By SIMON ROMERO and MARC LACEY
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A fierce earthquake struck Haiti late Tuesday afternoon, causing a crowded hospital to collapse, leveling countless shantytown dwellings and bringing even more suffering to a nation that was already the hemisphere’s poorest and most disaster-prone.
The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, left the country in a shambles. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.
In the chaos, it was not possible for officials to determine how many people had been killed and injured, but they warned that the casualties could be substantial.
The physical toll was easier to assess. The headquarters of the United Nations mission was seriously damaged, the United Nations said in a statement, and many employees were missing. Part of the national palace had collapsed, The Associated Press reported.
A hospital collapsed in Pétionville, a hillside district in Port-au-Prince that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians, a videographer for The Associated Press said. And an American government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine.
Tequila Minsky, a photographer based in New York who was in Port-au-Prince, said that a wall at the front of the Hotel Oloffson had fallen, killing a passer-by. A number of nearby buildings had crumbled, trapping people, she said, and a Unibank bank building was badly damaged. People were screaming.
“It was general mayhem,” Ms. Minksy said.
The earthquake, with a magnitude estimated at 7.0, struck just before 5 p.m. about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the United States Geological Survey said. Many aftershocks followed and more were expected, said David Wald, a Geological Survey seismologist.
“The main issue here will probably be shaking,” he said, “and this is an area that is particularly vulnerable in terms of construction practice, and with a high population density. There could be a high number of casualties.”
Oxfam, an antipoverty group, said that Kristie van de Wetering, a former employee based in Port-au-Prince, had described houses in rubble everywhere.
“There is a blanket of dust rising from the valley south of the capital,” agency officials said Ms. van de Wetering had told them. “We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous.”
The earthquake could be felt across the border in the Dominican Republic, on the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola. High-rise buildings in the capital, Santo Domingo, shook and sent people streaming down stairways into the streets, fearing that the tremor could intensify.
Haiti sits on a large fault that has caused catastrophic quakes in the past, but this one was described as among the most powerful to hit the region. With many poor residents living in tin-roof shacks that sit precariously on steep ravines and with much of the construction in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in the country of questionable quality, the expectation was that the quake caused major damage to buildings and significant loss of life.
“Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken,” Henry Bahn, an official of the United States Department of Agriculture who was visiting Haiti, told The Associated Press. “The sky is just gray with dust.”
Haiti’s many man-made woes — its dire poverty, political infighting and proclivity for insurrection — have been exacerbated repeatedly by natural disasters. At the end of 2008, four hurricanes flooded whole towns, knocked out bridges and left a destitute population in even more desperate conditions.
The United States and other countries have devoted significant humanitarian support to Haiti, financing a large United Nations peacekeeping mission that has recently reported major gains in controlling crime. International aid has also supported an array of organizations aimed at raising the country’s dismal health and education levels.
Emergency meetings were being held in Washington, and President Obama issued a statement saying that administration officials were closely monitoring the situation.
“We stand ready to assist the people of Haiti,” Mr. Obama said.
The Caribbean is not usually considered a seismic danger zone, but earthquakes have struck here in the past.
“There’s a history of large, devastating earthquakes,” said Paul Mann, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas, “but they’re separated by hundreds of years.”
Most of Haiti lies on the Gonave microplate, a sliver of the earth’s crust between the much larger North American plate to the north and the Caribbean plate to the south. The earthquake on Tuesday occurred when what appears to be part of the southern fault zone broke and slid.
The fault is similar in structure to the San Andreas fault that slices through California, Dr. Mann said.
Such earthquakes, which are called strike-slip, tend to be shallow and produce violent shaking at the surface.
“They can be very devastating, especially when there are cities nearby,” Dr. Mann said.
Victor Tsai, a seismologist at the National Earthquake Information Center of the United States Geological Survey, said the depth of Tuesday’s earthquake was only about six miles and the quake was a 9 on a 1-to-10 scale that measures ground shaking. “We expect substantial damage from this event,” he said.
In the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, customers began streaming into the Louis Market shortly after news of the earthquake hit the airwaves. They were buying $5 phone cards in a desperate attempt to reach relatives in Haiti.
“Everyone who walks in here is crazy, worried, depressed,” said Myrlande Cherenfant, 20.
At the Notre Dame de Haiti Roman Catholic church, a handful of parishioners in red-cushioned seats pressed redial on their phones over and over. Some said that they had been able to get through immediately after the earthquake.
“I was able to talk to a priest in Haiti,” the Rev. Reginald Jean-Mary said. “The only word I heard was ‘catastrophe’ and then it cut off.”
He said that in a later call he was told that the cathedral in Port-au-Prince had been destroyed and that other churches had been damaged.
Jean-Robert Lafortune, executive director of the Miami-based Haitian American Grassroots Coalition, said that Haiti had endured “a cycle of natural disasters and man-made disasters, and this is one more big catastrophe.”
“We are in trauma,” he said. “We have loved ones there and many of them will be victims. We’re calling and calling, but there’s nothing on the other end.”
TL/DR: Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, fresh off a civil war in 2004, and a quadruple hurricane strike in 2008, was struck by a major (7.0) earthquake, which occurred just a short distance from the capital Port-au-Prince. Little is known of the damage, but it is expected to be immense. President Obama released a statement implying humanitarian aid.
***
The timing and place of this earthquake couldn't have been worse. I have a feeling this is already going to be President Obama's newest (and potentially largest, depending on ow Af/Pak goes) foreign policy challenge.
But beyond that, it's just so terrible that things have just gotten so much worse in Haiti. There's no way Haiti's government can deal with this, and I wonder if it'll even survive.
I'm going to have to donate money to some organization tomorrow. Gave some money to MSF this morning. List of Aid Groups
On January 13 2010 15:54 JohnColtrane wrote: at least on the positive side there wasnt that much structural damage
coz they dont have that many buildings anyway
That was extremely sensitive. And while we're in the mood of sensitivity and empathy... this must be God's way of getting back at the Haitians for being poor. Oh that sinful poverty and disease and hunger... They had it coming.
Even with the expected amount of cynicism on the Internet, I feel that we have to draw the line somewhere. If you have ever seen the aftermath of a natural disaster of this magnitude, you really wouldn't be laughing right now.
I'm a firm believer that if we can't lol about it the terrorists have already won, but this isn't 4chan. We do have hearts.
On January 13 2010 16:23 Saturnize wrote: Odd, I didn't realize Haiti was near a major fault line.
Does this mean The Dominican Republic was affected as well?
No, not affected at all. Of course there were reports of ground shaking but no reports of damage yet, dont think there will be either. Some people were histerical because of the tsunami warnings though. I have haitian friends in college that couldnt get in touch with their families and still can't. Since it happened just a few hours before sundown the damage hasn't been fully documented though, in a few hours reports will be coming in.
And thanks to the mods for drawing the line. Good work.
I hate earthquakes, just looking at the images makes me really scared. I feel for these people. This is where that Park dude should have gone, maybe he could have been useful then.
I turned on CNN (yes yes, I know) and while doing a short interview of the prime minister of Haiti, he estimated "well over 100,000 deaths". This is very sad :[.
the first word say about +100,000 death in haiti.. everything is jsut destroy. God dam they are not lucky. it will gate worst and worst during the next hour/day.
It sure that the way they did destroy the natural resource of their country (forst, tree, etc.) they search for it a bit but the disaster just dont stop on them.
1:16 PM: Richard Morse, who is apparently updating Twitter from Haiti, reports that people have been sleeping in the streets because of ongoing tremors and fears of collapse. Take a look at these photos of Haitians spending the night outside, from journalist Liliane Pierre-Paul.
1:05 PM: CNN reports that a number of Doctors Without Borders staff members have died, and all of its treatment centers have been destroyed. The group is apparently relying on tents and mobile clinics. Over 100 UN employees are also apparently still unaccounted for, and at least 15 peacekeepers are dead.
1:01 PM: The National Cathedral has been destroyed, and the Vatican reports that the Archbishop of Haiti is dead. Along with the destruction of most of the physical apparatus of the Haitian government -- prisons, police stations, hospitals, schools -- this means that Haiti is going to have very few national institutions remaining to build on.
12:28 PM: Apparently, Rev. Pat Robertson declared, during his show on CBN, that the reason for Haiti's troubles is the country's pact with Satan. According to Robertson, Haiti struck a deal with the Devil to get free from France in the early 19th century. After Haitian slaves freed themselves and their country from France, this was approximately the view held by American slaveholders of the Haitian Revolution as well. Leave it to Robertson to be obscene -- and, really, pretty racist -- about an unspeakable tragedy.
12:26 PM: CNN reports that a helicopter evacuated four "very seriously injured" staffers from the U.S. embassy.
12:10 PM: Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is currently on the phone with CNN, and just said that he believes that deaths could number in the hundreds of thousands.
On January 13 2010 21:03 TeWy wrote: So Obama is "wondering" if the USA help would be needed ?
of course. however US is in no position to send out aids as our country need helps itself.
what? we can spare plenty of ships, including an aircraft carrier, to save lives. i don't think our unemployment rate will be helped by keeping an aircraft carrier and tons of coast guard personnel in florida - but haitian lives might be saved.
we've already spent the enormous amount of money on the equipment, we ought to use it.
i know i should ignore him but my god, this man's idiocy knows no bounds.
it's disgusting
lately allot of crap is coming out... i hope most of them arn't true, but wtf? what has become of this world? so many idiots....
Dunno what is worse, the devil story or him saying that Haitians revolted against Napoleon III I mean it is like saying that Theodore Roosevelt was the US president during WWII lol
Actually, this kind of news reminds me that earthquakes are undoubtedly an devastating force despite reading series of so-called earthquakes on California or other major first-world countries.
Wasn't it pat robertson who said the earh would end in 1985, and when wrong said it was because of prayer, then said it would end later on a certain year?
On January 14 2010 06:19 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Wasn't it pat robertson who said the earh would end in 1985, and when wrong said it was because of prayer, then said it would end later on a certain year?
he said in 2007 that the us would be wrecked by terror and violence. we were apparently saved by prayer. then he said we'd suffer a depression in 2008. i guess pat knows everything!
I don't understand why it's ok to troll every other thread but this one. Respectfully disagree with banning coltrane, as he did not break any rules. Are Haitians' lives more respectful than anyone else's?
Wonder what the religious people think of their god's love for all it's children. Those Haitians mustve really done some evil shit....
On the story itself, it's very sad that an already harsh place to live has become harsher. If you really want to point fingers, point them at the brutal American led exploitation of this country which drove it to the ground.
On January 14 2010 06:49 reit wrote: I don't understand why it's ok to troll every other thread but this one. Respectfully disagree with On the story itself, it's very sad that an already harsh place to live has become harsher. If you really want to point fingers, point them at the brutal American led exploitation of this country which drove it to the ground.
For the earthquake? Because I'm all for blaming America and the corporations and multinationals and the military industrial complex for everything bad but the earthquake probably would have happened anyway.
On January 14 2010 06:49 reit wrote: If you really want to point fingers, point them at the brutal American led exploitation of this country which drove it to the ground.
If you want to point fingers, point them at Darwin.
The weak always since the dawn of time have become exploited by the strong.
You live in Canada. Would you want to give your piece of land back to the natives?
On January 14 2010 06:49 reit wrote: I don't understand why it's ok to troll every other thread but this one. Respectfully disagree with banning coltrane, as he did not break any rules. Are Haitians' lives more respectful than anyone else's?
Wonder what the religious people think of their god's love for all it's children. Those Haitians mustve really done some evil shit....
On the story itself, it's very sad that an already harsh place to live has become harsher. If you really want to point fingers, point them at the brutal American led exploitation of this country which drove it to the ground.
wtf? How the hell did America exploit anything in this situation or had anything to do with this? Drove to the ground - speaking of Haiti / earthquake? Again, US has nothing to do with any of that. U = idiot.
The story of the guy that said Haiti had a pact w/ the Devil.. well.. I don't believe in God which would mean believing in the Devil either, but I think the story speaks of Karma. Dunno if that story is true or not, as he said it was, but looking at this examples: Dominican Republic and HAiti on same island, basically split in half.. Dominican side doing very well and Haiti is poverty-stricken w/ many natural disasters happening to them w/ almost no infliction being dealt to the D. Republic. Like I said.. seems liek Karma, or something that can prevent 1/5 an island from being safe when the other 1/5 gets F'd.
I also support the guy getting temp-banned. I know the internet has its fair share of retards/idiots/assholes (as i quoted above) but in these situations, it's not needed or justified to try to be comical. Was truly a disaster for them, everyone lost something, loved ones, shelter, or what ever sort of lively-hood they had going for them.. and a few ppl here poking fun at them. Would be the same if those particular people had a fire-storm in their neighborhood and everyones houses burnt down except maybe theirs, and they would be out in the street, laughing and pointing fingers at the ones whos homes were ash as the inhabitants were huddled together out in the street with nothing but the clothes on their back. Simply uncalled for.
On January 14 2010 06:49 reit wrote: I don't understand why it's ok to troll every other thread but this one. Respectfully disagree with banning coltrane, as he did not break any rules. Are Haitians' lives more respectful than anyone else's?
Wonder what the religious people think of their god's love for all it's children. Those Haitians mustve really done some evil shit....
On the story itself, it's very sad that an already harsh place to live has become harsher. If you really want to point fingers, point them at the brutal American led exploitation of this country which drove it to the ground.
wtf? How the hell did America exploit anything in this situation or had anything to do with this? Drove to the ground - speaking of Haiti / earthquake? Again, US has nothing to do with any of that. U = idiot.
The story of the guy that said Haiti had a pact w/ the Devil.. well.. I don't believe in God which would mean believing in the Devil either, but I think the story speaks of Karma. Dunno if that story is true or not, as he said it was, but looking at this examples: Dominican Republic and HAiti on same island, basically split in half.. Dominican side doing very well and Haiti is poverty-stricken w/ many natural disasters happening to them w/ almost no infliction being dealt to the D. Republic. Like I said.. seems liek Karma, or something that can prevent 1/5 an island from being safe when the other 1/5 gets F'd.
I also support the guy getting temp-banned. I know the internet has its fair share of retards/idiots/assholes (as i quoted above) but in these situations, it's not needed or justified to try to be comical. Was truly a disaster for them, everyone lost something, loved ones, shelter, or what ever sort of lively-hood they had going for them.. and a few ppl here poking fun at them. Would be the same if those particular people had a fire-storm in their neighborhood and everyones houses burnt down except maybe theirs, and they would be out in the street, laughing and pointing fingers at the ones whos homes were ash as the inhabitants were huddled together out in the street with nothing but the clothes on their back. Simply uncalled for.
Labeling people who disagree with you as idiots/assholes and talking about "karma" to hide your poor understanding of the Haitian socio-economic issues, what a joke you are sir.
Ok I went through that LisandroSuero guy's pictures and it really is a kick in the balls for Haiti. I had no idea earthquakes were so deadly too, 100000 is bigger than my town.
Shepard Smith actually said it wonderfully in that video. Thanks for posting that {CC}.
"The people of Haiti have been used and abused by their governments over the years. They have dealt with unthinkable tragedy day in and day out, and we’re in the middle of a crisis that the Western Hemisphere has not seen in my lifetime, and 700 miles east of Miami hundreds of thousands of desperate human beings need our help, our support, our money, and our love, and they don’t need that.”
In the OP, I posted a link to a list of charitable organizations that everyone should consider helping out. I donated some money to MSF in the morning. Consider the American Red Cross, MSF, Oxfam, and (Paul Farmer's) Partners in Health.
And reit, it's pretty tasteless to make light of any tragedy, let alone the largest humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere in decades. When has that ever been accepted?
Wow... I'm a bit sadden by the story and the posts here on TL.... I do wish the best for Haiti as I have some American-Haitian friends but this is a bit depressing...
The AP is reporting that there are so many dead bodies the authorities have resorted to having to use bulldozers, and that angry citizens have actually setup road blocks using corpses
A man looks for a body among hundreds of earthquake victims at the morgue in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Hopefully the airport, port, and main roads will be cleared soon so that international help can start arriving and mobilizing quicker. The world needs to be supportive of our brothers in Haiti now. There is no need for tasteless jokes, this isn't 4chan. ugh.
On January 16 2010 03:35 Licmyobelisk wrote: Just one of those days I wish I had money to donate guess I'll just use good old prayer for the mean time...
Add 10 bucks to your phone bill by texting Haiti to the red cross.
Christ, the one thing you think WOULDN'T be politicized, sending aid to a country that just got thoruoughly fucked in a natural disaster.... a President of any fucking background would have sent aid.
One of Enoch's friends was trapped inside his house with his (the friends) two brothers and his mother. They all died and people were trying to rescue him. He kept yelling at them to stop and leave him alone. He wanted to die with his family. They asked what they could drop down to him and he asked for a gun to kill himself.