Many casualties expected after big quake in Haiti

[babylonsister]

Many casualties expected after big quake in Haiti
AP

By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writer


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area shook Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help. Other buildings also were damaged and scientists said they expected "substantial damage and casualties."

With communications disrupted there were no reports of deaths or injuries soon after the quake, as powerful aftershocks shook the country.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers). It was the largest quake recorded in the area, said USGS analyst Dale Grant, and the last major one since a magnitude-6.7 temblor in 1984.

An Associated Press videographer saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hillside Port-au-Prince district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians. Elsewhere, a U.S. government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine.

snip//


"I think we are going to see substantial damage and casualties," he said.

The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. Some panicked residents in the capital of Santo Domingo fled from their shaking homes.

In eastern Cuba, houses shook but no major damage was immediately reported.

"We felt it very strongly and I would say for a long time. We had time to evacuate," said Monsignor Dionisio Garcia, archbishop of Santiago.

In Haiti, the extent of the damage was unclear.

"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official visiting Haiti. "The sky is just gray with dust."

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_earthquake

[kdmorris]

1. My heart goes out to the Haitians

They've been hit hard by hurricanes in the last few years and now they get this. I know that hoping there is no loss of life is futile. I can only hope that the loss of life is minimal.

Man, those poor people.

[babylonsister]

2. I will never forget a PBS report on the Haitians making dirt pies for

sustenance. :(

[stuntcat]

10. oh yeah, I saw that :(

((Haiti))

[kdmorris]

12. Yeah, I saw that, too.

How hungry must you be to eat dirt in order to try to survive?

so sad.

[ORDagnabbit]

3. way overpopulated, no family planning, destitute country = lots of dead people.

hope the UN comes in and helps them out in the long term.

[Bobbieo]

6. In many ways you can thank George W. Bush and His Global Gag Order signed in

2000 which ended US funding for International Planned Parenthood and created the slave labor situation that exists there, now.

[CBR]

4. This is just terrible.

:(

[bigwillq]

5. So sad.

:(

[Odin2005]

7. This is gonna be BAD!

:(

[WeDidIt]

8. Tens of thousands at least

Given the close proximity of poorly built structures combined with the vast number of people and topping 100,000 is not out of the realm of possibility.

:cry:

[lightningandsnow]

9. Oh my god.

My grade 12 English teacher told me how she traveled to Haiti a few years back...and how she had never seen a place so lacking in hope.

This is so sad. :cry:

Does anyone know of somewhere we could donate to help?

[Beaverhausen]

11. donate here

http://www.pih.org/where/Haiti/Haiti.html