Massive earthquake. Haiti doesn't get a break.

by BurnTheShips 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  BurnTheShips

  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A major earthquake hit the impoverished country of Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince and burying residents under rubble, a Reuters reporter in the city said.

  He said he saw dozens of dead and injured people in the rubble, which blocked streets in the city.

  The epicenter of the quake was located inland, only 10 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince and was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles.

  It prompted a tsunami watch for parts the Caribbean, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on Tuesday.

  "Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing ... it's total chaos," Reuters reporter Joseph Guyler Delva said. "I saw people under the rubble, and people killed," he added.

  A local employee for the U.S. charity Food for the Poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in Port-au-Prince, a spokeswoman for the group, Kathy Skipper, told Reuters.

  Another Food for the Poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.

  Panic-stricken residents filled the streets desperately trying to dig people from rubble or seeking missing relatives as dark fell shortly after the quake.

  "People were screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' and running in all directions," Delva said.

  A major earthquake, of magnitude 7 or higher, is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage. There was no immediate report of damage or casualties.

  The tsunami center said the watch was in effect for Haiti, the neighboring Dominican Republic, with which it shares the island of Hispaniola, Cuba and the Bahamas.

  "A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said. "However, there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a 100 km (60 miles) from the earthquake epicenter."

  The quake was quickly followed by two nearby, strong aftershocks of initial magnitude of 5.9 and 5.5,

  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B5IZ20100112

  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rja6.php

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake

  BTS
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  BurnTheShips

  I am sure there will be an international effort to help, but here is a great charity for those interested:

  http://www.hopeforhaiti.com/

  They have a plane ready to go with supplies and healthcare workers. They are a very well run charity, also.

  BTS
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  snowbird

  Thanks for the charity link, Burn.

  My husband is very distressed over this.

  He has some Haitian friends who are frantically trying to find out something about their relatives.

  This is simply horrific.

  Sylvia
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  awildflower

  This is very, very bad!
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  poopsiecakes

  This is just heartbreaking - a country with terrible infrastructure and no building codes...the devastation must be horrific. Thanks for the link, BTS.
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  Sad emo

  The UK is trying to get a search-rescue team out there - but at the moment they can't even leave the country because the airports are having trouble from the snow and ice.

  The Government is mentioning having the RAF to fly them out though - hopefully very soon.
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  paul from cleveland

  "People were screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' and running in all directions,"

  This is why I don't understand when people say that Jesus came into their lives and changed everything for them. Why would God give blessings to some of his children and let others die in the rubble of an earthquake? Wouldn't a God of justice answer everyone's prayers... or no one's? Not just some of the people some of the time?
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  Mary

  Thanks for posting this Burns. I read earlier that this is the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in over 200 years. As has already been mentioned, it's horrifying that a country that's as poor as Haiti, with civil unrest, and no building codes to speak of, should be hit like this.
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  I quit!

  I saw the article just before coming here and I had the same thought. Those poor people never seem to get a break.
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  sir82

  Why would God give blessings to some of his children and let others die in the rubble of an earthquake?

  Just saw a blurb that over 1/2 of the island practices voodoo (despite 95+% of the population designated as Christian).

  I expect within 24 hours some media talking head somewhere will describe the earthquake as "God's retribution" on those pagan Haitians.