Confirmed Death Toll from Haiti Quake Tops 150,000 - The Americas - FOXNews.com
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Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Confirmed Death Toll from Haiti Quake Tops 150,000 - The Americas - FOXNews.com
Confirmed Death Toll from Haiti Quake Tops 150,000 - The Americas - FOXNews.com
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Hugo Chavez Mouthpiece Says U.S. Hit Haiti With 'Earthquake Weapon' - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk
from nationalgeographic.com:
"The combination of widespread deforestation and the recent earthquake in Haiti could lead to more landslides in the already hard-hit country, scientists say (Haiti map).
(Read "Haiti Earthquake 'Strange,' Strongest in 200 Years.")
Many of Haiti's people, the poorest in the Americas, routinely cut down trees for fuel—either to burn "raw" or turn into charcoal.
As a result, the destruction of Haiti's natural forests is almost total, making the Caribbean country one of the most deforested in the world.
As Haiti's trees have disappeared, landslides have become a major concern, especially during the rainy season, and the destabilizing effects of an earthquake on soil only worsen the problem.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Devastation on the Day After.")
Natural Buffers Depleted in Haiti
Forest canopies serve as natural buffers against wind and rain, and the deep roots of trees help keep the granular soil from shifting.
"If you remove the trees, you have no buffer. So the water"—and soil—"tends to very quickly move downhill," said Mark Ashton, a professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
During an earthquake, hillside stability is further threatened as the ground is shaken.
"Anywhere you have strong motion and steep terrain, you have extremely high risk of slope failure and landslides, and they can be extremely large," said Colin Stark, a geophysicists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Aerial Views of the Damage.")
Earthquake Plus Rain Equals Trouble
Among the rare bright spots for Haiti this week are that its capital, Port-au-Prince, is on relatively flat land—making the landslide threat one less thing to worry about—and that the earthquake struck during the dry season.
"The worst kinds of landslides would be if you had an earthquake on rain-soaked soil," Yale's Ashton said.
The surrounding hilly regions may not be so lucky, he added. Even without landslides, post-earthquake pictures show collapsed houses sliding downhill.
"It's where foothills are that the worst landslides will occur," he said. "That's also where people tend to build their houses."
Sunday, January 17, 2010
6.3 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Ocean Floor Between South America and Antarctica
from foxnews.com:
"
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Earthquake monitors say a 6.3 magnitude temblor has shaken the ocean floor between South America and Antarctica, too deep and far from land to cause any damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 8 a.m. Sunday in Drake Passage, about 220 miles southeast of Ushuaia, Argentina, at a depth of 13 miles.
Firefighter chief Carlos Arimendi says they didn't feel it Argentina's southernmost city. Chilean seismologists said it had no impact in Puerto Williams, a Chilean outpost across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia.
Seas were calm at South America's southern tip, and no tsunami warnings were issued."
Wyclef Jean: "I Spent the Day Picking Up Dead Bodies"
from eonline.com:
"Wyclef Jean is working hard to help Haiti—and to defend himself.
The Haitian-born singer spent time in his homeland with his wife, pulling dead bodies from the rubble of the earthquake-ravaged country.
"We've been picking up dead bodies because the morgues ain't taking no more bodies," Jean said Saturday after arriving back from Haiti, where casualties estimates could climb as high as 100,000. "We're literally picking them up...some are identified with tags, putting them in the trucks and bringing them to the cemeteries. The whole Port-au-Prince is starting to smell like dead bodies, because every two blocks that's what you have."
The 37-year-old Grammy winner said what disturbed him the most was that under the rubble he could hear voices of people saying "save me."
The devastating conditions in the Caribbean nation have impeded efforts to get equipment inside that could lift the large concrete slabs trapping untold numbers of victims underneath. To make matters worse, the former Fugee said, many Haitians are still waiting for life-saving supplies.
"Aid is finally coming in, but it still isn't getting to the people," said Jean, who has also found himself standing up for his under-fire charitable efforts."
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Freedom of the Seas to bring goods to Haiti
from floridatoday.com:
Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas will leave Port Canaveral next week with a load of goods and supplies for earthquake-rocked Haiti, according to a spokeswoman.
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The ship, scheduled to set sail Jan. 24 for Labadee, is one of several the cruise line is sending to the catastrophe-struck nation in coming weeks as part of a $1 million donation to relief efforts.
Donations of water, cooking oil and dry food products, such as beans and rice, are being sought.
Ships carrying rice, dried beans, powdered milk, water, canned goods and other items donated by Royal Caribbean vendors and suppliers set sail Monday and Tuesday from Miami, and Friday from Fort Lauderdale, spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said.
In addition to working with charity group Food for the Poor to distribute supplies, the cruise line said it would donate to the relief effort, as well as to the company's Crew Relief Fund, which more than 200 Haitian crew members can turn to for assistance.
Current and future guests also will be able to contribute to the charity's Haiti Relief Fund via the Web or their onboard accounts, the company said.
"In addition to our financial contribution, Royal Caribbean will continue to provide economic support through the continuous business we bring to Labadee," chairman and chief executive officer Richard D. Fain said in a prepared statement.
Royal Caribbean also is working with charitable organization Pan American Development Foundation and the Solano Foundation, the company's foundation in Haiti, according to a news release."
"
Orlando students, adults on mission in Haiti return home safely, welcomed at OIA
from orlandosentinel.com:
"A group of students on a mission in Haiti, rescued with the help of the military and private donations, returned safely to Orlando early today greeted by banners, balloons and more than 100 well-wishers.
It was a carnival-like atmosphere at Orlando International Airport as the weary travelers passed through Customs and into the eager arms of friends and family. As the 44 missionaries – many affiliated with Baptist churches or schools in Orlando, Winter Garden and Oviedo – walked into the terminal, the crowd cheered and cried.
Carol Grosshans was on hand to meet her daughter Faith, 15, who also was greeted by her brother John and sister Joy. A big teddy bear wearing a "Take Me Home" sign and a dozen pale peach and pink roses were among Faith's welcome-home gifts.
"What she really wanted was Chick-Fil-A," said Grosshans, principal at The First Academy's middle school. The academy is affiliated with First Baptist Church of Orlando.
About 80 U.S. citizens who also got stuck in Haiti after Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake were airlifted out with the missionaries, said Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Department officials were on hand to offer cash and hotel rooms until the travelers could figure out a game plan.
The rescue began Friday when six helicopters – three private and three belonging to the U.S. Army – flew the missionaries to the Dominican Republic, said Tim DeTellis, president of New Missions, the Orlando-based group that sponsored the mission trip. The group had been stranded in Leogane, a city 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital.
Later, a chartered 737 airplane, paid for with donations from families in The First Academy, completed the trip home. It touched down shortly before midnight.
Several Florida politicians, including both the state's senators, hand a hand in the rescue.
"I feel grateful, and I feel humble knowing so many people worked so hard to get my daughter home to me," said Debbie Coan of Windermere, whose daughter Taylor, 17, was on the flight.
Allison Starcher, 17, who attends The First Academy, said surviving the hurricane was a peaceful experience. Afterward, people got together and prayed, and Haitian villagers could be heard singing songs of praise to God.
"I've never felt God's presence as much as I did then," said Allison, who plans to go back to Haiti eventually.
Her mother, Linda Starcher, who was a chaperone on the trip, said people didn't know at first what was happening. Then, "the earth opened up." Grateful to be almost home, Starcher said early today that she was looking forward to a shower and time with family.
Each group member was allowed to bring home one backpack or bag, forcing everyone to leave many belongings behind. Their mission had been to proselytize and deliver more than 7,000 shoeboxes containing items such as teddy bears, toothpaste and toothbrushes, pencils, candy and playing cards to children in the impoverished nation. New Missions operates schools there.
Newlyweds Jean Compas, 52, and Dacia Shillingford-Compas, 31, were visiting family when the house they were staying began to shake. They were among the group being cared for by the Department of Children and Families and were grateful to be alive and on their way home to Boston.
"Mostly, I'm thankful to God for those who lived, and I'm also thankful to God for those he called to heaven," Compas said. "You can never judge God for what he does."
First Baptist Church of Orlando is planning a fundraiser, a concert and comedy show, to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. The show is Sunday at 6 p.m. at the church."
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tiger Woods Back to Being One of the Good Guys, Sends Relief Haiti's Way
from eonline.com:
"Russell Simmons tends to know what he's tweeting about.
A day after the record mogul tweeted that Tiger Woods was earmarking $3 million for earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the Tiger Woods Foundation confirmed that the scandal-plagued athlete will be contributing to relief efforts in the Caribbean nation.
"Sorry about blowing up tigers 'anonymous gift' such a sweet gesture," Simmons wrote Friday morning. "People have cared so much about other'secrets' this is inspirng?"
He wouldn't confirm a dollar amount, but Woods Foundation President Greg McLaughlin did clarify: "Our plan is to be part of the relief effort to help rebuild Haiti by supporting organizations that provide critical resources to young people."
Really, this is nothing new. Before the recent unpleasantness, this is exactly the sort of benevolent gesture Tiger was known for.
Back in 2004, Woods donated $100,000 to aid tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia, and another $200,000 went to establish an educational fund for Hurricane Katrina victims the following year."
Central Florida students stranded in Haiti
from orlandosentinel.com:
"A group of Central Florida students on a mission trip to Haiti is scrambling to escape the crumbling country in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
Forty-one people — most affiliated with Central Florida churches — are stranded in Leogane, about 20 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, authorities said.
"We certainly have a mess on our hands trying to get these kids out of there," said Bud Bennington, an Orlando lawyer who is working with government officials to fly the students home.
Faith Grosshans, 15, is among the nine students from The First Academy in Haiti. They left Saturday to deliver shoeboxes of toiletries, edible treats and toys to impoverished children, said Carol Grosshans, Faith's mother. Three adults went with them.
Grosshans spoke to her daughter Thursday night and said Faith was in good spirits. She was visiting with a teenager named Evelyn, whom the Grosshans family has sponsored for a decade. It was their first meeting after years as pen pals, and part of it was spent feeling the ground shake and fearing they would be swallowed up.
They spent the first night after the quake outside praying and slept inside a damaged mission school the next night.
"She wasn't scared," Grosshans said. "In fact, she said, 'Mom, we had a dance in the cafeteria.' Her spirits were very good."
People from Oviedo, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Pennsylvania, all affiliated with other churches, are among the group from Orlando-based New Missions, said Steve Whitaker, headmaster of The First Academy. The school is affiliated with First Baptist Church of Orlando. Missionaries from separate groups based in Tennessee and Texas also are stranded in Leogane, according to news reports.
New Missions' Web site says it is working on two evacuation plans. The first would use government help to rescue the missionaries. The second would be a private evacuation through friends in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Parents are eager to fly their children home because the situation in Haiti is deteriorating, and more people are becoming desperate, making the students the target of possible violence.
"They have food and water," Whitaker said. "They're safe. We're thankful for that. But we definitely need to do all we can to get them out."
Desperation and Anger in Haiti as Aid Is Snarled
from foxnews.com:
"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Aid workers hoping to distribute food, water and other supplies to a shattered Port-au-Prince are warning their efforts may need more security Friday as Haitians grow increasingly desperate and impatient for help.
United Nations peacekeepers patrolling the capital said people's anger is rising that aid hasn't been distributed quickly, and the Brazilian military warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting."Unfortunately, they're slowly getting more angry and impatient," said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-commanded U.N. peacekeeping mission. "I fear, we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed."
The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials.
Hundreds of bodies were stacked outside the city morgue, and limbs of the dead protruded from the rubble of crushed schools and homes. A few workers were able to free people who had been trapped under the rubble for days, but others attended to the grim task of using bulldozers to transport loads of bodies.For the long-suffering people of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, shock was giving way to despair.
"We need food. The people are suffering. My neighbors and friends are suffering," said Sylvain Angerlotte, 22. "We don't have money. We don't have nothing to eat. We need pure water."
From Europe, Asia and the Americas, more than 20 governments, the U.N. and private aid groups were sending planeloads of high-energy biscuits and other food, tons of water, tents, blankets, water-purification gear, heavy equipment for removing debris, helicopters and other transport. Hundreds of search-and-rescue, medical and other specialists also headed to Haiti.The U.N. World Food Program began organizing distribution centers for food and water Thursday, said Kim Bolduc, acting chief of the large U.N. mission in this desperately poor country. She said it was remarkable there were no widespread reports of looting, but added that "the risk of having social unrest very soon" made it important to move quickly.
Governments and government agencies have pledged about $400 million worth of aid, including $100 million from the United States.
But into the third day following the 7.0-magnitude quake, the global helping hand was slowed by a damaged seaport and an airport that turned away civilian aid planes for eight hours Thursday because of a lack of space and fuel. Aid workers have been blocked by debris on inadequate roads and by survivors gathered in the open out of fear of aftershocks and re-entering unstable buildings.
Across the sprawling, hilly city, people milled about in open areas, hopeful for help, sometimes setting up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.
Small groups could be seen burying dead by roadsides. Other dust-covered bodies were being dragged down streets, toward hospitals where relatives hoped to leave them. Countless dead remained unburied, some in piles. Outside one pharmacy, the body of a woman was covered by a sheet, a small bundle atop her, a tiny foot poking from its covering.
Aid worker Fevil Dubien said some people were almost fighting over the water he distributed from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighborhood.
Elsewhere, about 50 Haitians yearning for food and water rushed toward two employees wearing "Food For The Poor" T-shirts as they entered the international agency's damaged building.
"We heard a commotion at the door, knocking at it, trying to get in," said project manager Liony Batista. "'What's going on? Are you giving us some food?' We said, 'Uh-oh.' You never know when people are going over the edge."
Batista said he and others tried to calm the crowd, which eventually dispersed after being told food hadn't yet arrived.
"We're not trying to run away from what we do," Batista said, adding that coordinating aid has been a challenge. "People looked desperate, people looked hungry, people looked lost."
Engineers from the U.N. mission have begun clearing some main roads, and law-and-order duties have fallen completely to the mission's 3,000 international troops and police. About 5,500 U.S. soldiers and Marines were expected to be in Haiti by Monday. Their efforts will include providing security, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Wimhurst, the mission spokesman, said Haitian police "are not visible at all," no doubt because many had to deal with lost homes and family members. The first U.S. military units to arrive took on a coordinating role at the airport.
Batista, the Food For The Poor project manager, went back to the Dominican Republic late Thursday and awaited the arrival of 100 shipping containers loaded with rice, canned goods and building supplies.
"I don't think that a word has been invented for what is happening in Haiti," he said. "It is total disaster."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Florida Student and Two Professors Missing After Haiti Quake
from abcnews.com:
"One student and two professors from a Florida university mission group are missing in the chaos and rubble of Haiti's earthquake, despite the efforts of a private search team hired by the school to find its missing staff and students.
The private contractor was commissioned by Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. So far, the contractor has located 11 members of the aid group Food for Poor that had landed in Haiti just a day before the earthquake hit.
The search is still on for 22-year-old Christine Gianacaci and faculty advisors Dr. Patrick Hartwick and Dr. Richard Bruno.
"The game plan today is to try and find these people," university spokesman Jason Hughes said. "The mood here is somber, but hopeful."
"We still have three members of our community that we're eager to hear about," he added.
Hughes did not name the contractor on the ground in Haiti helping to evacuate the students and look for the three missing group members, but said that the contractor's staff were provided to them by the insurance that the university routinely takes out for groups traveling abroad.
The severity of the situation in Haiti, said Hughes, prompted the use of a private search team.
"It is not routine in any way to use this sort of service," said Hughes. "Only in extraordinary circumstances would you have this ability."
Hughes said that the contractors arrived Wednesday morning on two helicopters, but did not know how many people were involved in the rescue effort.
Hartwick is the dean of the schools' college of education and Bruno is an assistant professor in the College of Liberal Education.
A MySpace page appearing to belong to Gianacaci was last visited on Jan.3, and lists elementary education as her major. A quote on the pages says, "These are the best days of our lives."
The group of 14 had been staying at the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The 11 students who have been found are reported to be in or near the U.S. Embassy, according to Hughes, and the university is working with the contractor to get them home.
Other Americans Missing in Haiti
"What we know is that when students are identified they are taken to the safest location that they can be taken to the quickest, and that may be the Dominican Republic," said Hughes. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti.
Several family members who had children traveling to Haiti convened at Lynn University to wait for news together, said Hughes.
Around the country, student groups and missionaries are working to account for members of their communities.
Two student groups traveling from the University of Wisconsin-Madison were accounted for and are now trying to get out of the country.
In Indianapolis, two churches are still waiting to find out whether members on missions trips to Haiti are safe, according to the Associated Press. The nine-person group was working at an orphanage 45 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, Andrew Foster, an eighth grader from Virginia Beach is missing in Haiti with an older relative, according to the child's father, Robert Foster.
Foster said he spoke to his son just after the earthquake hit when he was driving with his uncle from the airport in Haiti. The last he heard was when the uncle said, "Oh, my god, I have to get out of here," before the line went dead.
Two New York University students, Nathalie Pierre and Greg Childs, who arrived in Haiti just before the earthquake have not been heard from since.
The missing are both history students, doing research in Haiti as part of their doctoral program."
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Florida College Scrambles for Information on Students in Haiti
from foxnews.com:
"
Officials at a Florida college continue to pursue "all options and avenues" to locate 12 students and two faculty members who had been staying at a 4-star hotel in Haiti that toppled following Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
Lynn University President Kevin Ross said the group was registered at Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, a popular tourist destination that collapsed after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake in the impoverished nation.
Among the group studying in Haiti were Dr. Patrick Hartwick, dean of the university's College of Education, and Dr. Richard Bruno, an assistant professor with the university's College of Liberal Education.
The students who accompanied Hartwick and Bruno were identified as: Thomas Schloemer, of Fox Point, Wis.; Nikki Fantauzzi, of Simsbury, Conn.; Daniela Montealegre, of Managua, Nicaragua; Julie Prudhomme, of East Greenwich, R.I.; Michael DeMatteo, of Southlake, Texas; Melissa Elliott, of Hartland, Wisc.; Lindsay Doran, of Clearwater, Fla.; Paul Tyska, of Wilmette, Ill.; Stephanie Crispinelli, of Katonah, N.Y.; Christine Gianacaci, of Hopewell, N.J.; Courtney Hayes, of Boca Raton, Fla.; and Britney Gengel, of Rutland, Mass.
"Despite some early second-hand information regarding the group's conditions and whereabouts, the university's Crisis Management Team continues to try all channels to establish reliable contact, and reliable data regarding the condition and location of our community members in Haiti," a statement on the university's Web site read.
Classes at Lynn University, a liberal arts institution with roughly 2,000 undergraduates, were to be suspended as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to its Web site.
Lisa Elliott said she last spoke to her 20-year-old daughter, Melissa, on Sunday and received a text message from her just prior to Tuesday's earthquake, citing the "horrible" conditions in the poor nation.
"She said, 'Mom, you wouldn't believe it, it's just horrible,'" Elliott told FoxNews.com.
Elliott said Lynn University Vice President Greg Malfitano informed her that rescue teams — complete with two helicopters — has been hired by the school to fly to Haiti in an effort to locate her daughter and her fellow students and faculty.
Elliott said her daughter, who is majoring in fashion merchandizing, had been volunteering at a hospital for disabled children.
"She's a very loving, caring person," Elliott said of her only child. "And she's done this before — she went to Panama to work in an orphanage."
Elliott said she intends to fly to Florida to meet her daughter as soon as she is found.
"We're doing the best we can," she said. "We're just sitting by the phone and sitting by the TV, hoping to see her. There's nothing more we can do."
Calls to Jason Hughes, a Lynn University spokesman, were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Henry Hartwick said he has been told by university officials that his brother is safe but has yet to speak with him directly.
"I heard everybody's OK," Henry Hartwick told FoxNews.com. 'Everybody in their party was accounted for."
Hartwick, of Varysburg, N.Y., said his younger brother had visited relatives in upstate New York last month.
Meanwhile, administrators at Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia are reportedly awaiting word from a team of students who arrived in Haiti on Monday and visited a rural area believed to be near the area where the magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit.
The Students in Free Enterprise Team traveled to the Riviera Froide, about 20 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, to work with tradespeople in setting up businesses, NewsLeader.com reports.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and for their families here who I'm sure are very worried," Bridget Baylor, coordinator of public relations for BRCC, told the Web site.
School officials at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., say four faculty and staff members currently studying on the island nation are safe.
Dennis Brown, a Notre Dame spokesman, told FoxNews.com that an unidentified faculty member was able to contact university officials immediately after the earthquake, before phone service was interrupted. School officials have been unable to reach the team by phone as of early Wednesday, Brown said.
Notre Dame's Haiti program is based in Leogane, roughly 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince. The quake's epicenter was 10 miles southwest of the capital.
"We are thankful that these dedicated members of the Notre Dame family are safe," Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins said in a statement. "Our prayers are with them and all of those in Haiti in the wake of the disaster."
No information was immediately available regarding damage to the university's facilities in Haiti, Brown said.
Officials at Connecticut's Fairfield University are also trying to confirm the whereabouts of two students who returned to Haiti late last month to visit relatives during the college's winter break. Professor Gisela Gil-Egui told FoxNews.com the two undergraduate students were expected to return to the university this upcoming weekend.
"We don't know yet if they are fine," Gil-Egui said. "We are really worried, obviously."
One of the students was identified by Gil-Egui as Francesca LeGros, a sociology major originally from Port-au-Prince.
Administrators at Alvernia University in Pennsylvania said about a dozen students and faculty at a mission in the neighboring Dominican Republic were not injured.
"Our students and faculty are safe," Alverinia President Thomas Flynn told ReadingEagle.com.
Flynn said the Alvernia delegation was on an annual trip to Santo Domingo, which is about 300 miles east of the quake's epicenter. The students are enrolled in a community-service course at Alvernia, Flynn said."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Haiti overcome by chaos of earthquake
from floridatoday.com:
"
The largest earthquake in more than a century shattered Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital and homes and causing chaos in streets choked by a massive dust cloud.
"A huge billow of dust" caused by "buildings crashing down," hung over the capital Port-au-Prince, said Bill Canny, director of emergency operations for Catholic Relief Services.
Sara Fajardo, communications officer for Latin America and the Caribbean at CRS, said aid workers in the capital told her that "there must be thousands of people dead."
"It was just total disaster and chaos," she said.
Aid workers described scenes of desperation as people ran through traffic-choked streets and fallen buildings to find loved ones and carry them to hospitals, Canny said. Phone communications were overwhelmed. Power was out, and bodies lay in the streets, according to the State Department.
Kenson Calixte of Boston heard screaming as she talked on the phone to an uncle in Haiti who told her that a small hotel near their home had collapsed with people inside.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The last quake of that magnitude to hit Haiti was in 1895, according to Bruce Presgrave of the U.S. Geological Survey.
An Associated Press videographer saw a wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hillside district that is home to diplomats and wealthy Haitians. Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, said from Washington that he spoke to President René Préval's chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, just after the quake hit. He said Longchamp told him that "buildings were crumbling right and left" near the national palace.
"I had one person describing to us a car split in half, a school that collapsed. It's mayhem at the moment," said UNICEF USA President Caryl Stern who talked to aid workers in Haiti.
The quake appeared to have occurred along a strike-slip fault, where one side of a vertical fault slips horizontally past the other, Jordan said.
Minor earthquakes are common in the Caribbean, but there has not been a major one in Haiti in 16 years. The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, and in Cuba, but there were no reports of significant damage.
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official visiting Port-au-Prince.
Bahn said there were rocks strewn about and he saw a ravine where several homes had stood: "It's just full of collapsed walls and rubble."
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