At approximately 4:54 EST, a massive earthquake (reports vary on intensity, but it appears to have measured somewhere from a 7.0 to a 7.3) struck just 10-12 miles SW of Port-au-Prince, the capital city of the severely-impoverished Caribbean nation. Landlines and cell towers are still down, but initial reports described buildings crashing to the ground, some sliding into ravines, and a major hospital collapsing under the strain.
No one knows yet how many people have been trapped in the rubble, and searches began slowly after a trio of aftershocks--each tipping the Richter Scale at over 5.0--hit the already devastated city.
Casualty estimates will have wait until communication is restored, but it doesn't look good. Haiti is far-and-away the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere; and the population density of Port-au-Prince, combined with the severely under-code housing, combine to make one of the worst sets of circumstances for quake victims.
Best of luck to everyone in the area...more details as I have them.
No comments:
Post a Comment