It was immediately obvious that Tuesday's quake in Haiti would be an appalling natural disaster.A large tremor centred on an impoverished country with little recent experience or preparedness for such a major event of this kind.The buildings in the quake zones of major industrialised nations sit on damping systems that allow them to ride out tremors that not only shake them back and forth but also twist them in the same movement.The simplest concrete structures in the capital of Port-au-Prince will have crumpled under the same strain.Seismometers recorded a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 at 1653 local time (2153 GMT).The epicentre's proximity to Port-au-Prince - 15km (10 miles) - and the focus (or depth) of just 8km (5 miles) will have ensured the destructive forces were at their most intense."Closeness to the surface is a major factor contributing to the severity of ground shaking caused by an earthquake of any given magnitude," said Dr David Rothery, a planetary scientist with the Open University, UK."Furthermore, shaking tends to be greatest directly above the source. In this case the epicentre was only 15 km from the centre of the capital, Port au Prince, which therefore suffered very heavily."
what's interesting is for the past year Haiti has been blanked on getting money from the IMF and other agencies, if there is any silver lining here, it is that their need for funding should get more recognition.
The population of Haiti is 9.7 million per World Bank/Development Indicators, and the impact of Tuesday's earthquake was nothing short of devastating for many on this island nation.How many people felt the quake and how bad was the damage? The USGS released this graphic addressing these questions, showing the estimated population of those impacted by the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
THE CARIBBEAN Community’s emergency aid mission to Haiti, comprising Heads of Government and leading technical officials, failed to secure permission Friday to land at that devasted country’s aiport, now under the control of the United States. Consequently, the Caricom ’assessment mission’, that was to determine priority humanitarian needs resulting from the mind-boggling earthquake disaster of Haiti last Tuesday, had to travel back from Jamaica to their respective home destinations. On Friday afternoon the US State Department confirmed signing two ’Memoranda of Understanding’ with the Government of Haiti that made ’official that the United Stateas is in charge of all inbound and outbound flights and aid off-loading...’ Further, according to the agreements signed, US medical personnel ’now have the authority to operate on Haitian citizens and otherwise render medical assistance without having to wait for licences from Haiti’s government...’ Prior to the US taking control of Haiti’s airport, a batch of some 30 Cuban doctors had left Havana, following Wednesday’s earthquake, to join more than 300 of their colleagues who have been working there for more than a year. Last evening the frustration suffered by the Caricom mission to get landing permission was expected to be raised in a scheduled meeting at Jamaica’s Norman Manley International Airport with US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding who was making arrangements for the meeting with Clinton, following her visit earlier in the day to witness the devasation of the capital Port-au-Prince, said he could not comment on details to be discussed. He, however, told this correspondent: ’I appreciate the chaos and confusion at Haiti’s airport, where there is just one operational runway. But Haiti is a member of Caricom and we simply have to be facilitated and the truth is, there is hardly a functioning government in Haiti...’ Asked whether the difficuties encountered by the Caricom mission may be related to reports that US authorities were not anxious to facilitate landing of aircraft from Cuba and Venezuela, Prime Minister Golding said he could ’only hope that there is no truth to such immature thinking in the face of the horrific scale of Haiti’s tragedy...’
Haiti remains a place of profound need, anguish, desperation and danger, with a few glimmers of hope and slowly growing capabilities to receive and distribute the international aid now flowing in. Sporadic looting, sometimes violent, was met with force by security oficials and ordinary citizens, resulting in a number of further deaths and injuries. The tenuous security situation has led to at least one temporary evacuation of a medical facility, to protect the care-givers. Despite the long time since the earthquake, at least five people were pulled from the rubble alive this weekend, including a young girl trapped inside a supermarket who was fortunately surrounded by food, and survived on fruit snacks.
