Major Quake Hits Haiti; Thousands Feared Dead

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time. Carel
Pedre, a Haitian radio DJ, said, “I saw a lot of people crying for help, a lot of buildings
collapsed, a lot of car damage, a lot of people without help, and people bleeding. There
is no electricity, all the phone networks are down, so there's no way that people can get
in touch with their family and friends. There are aftershocks every 15 to 20 minutes.
They last from three to five seconds. The first shock was really strong, people were
falling in the streets and buildings collapsed." The epicenter of the earthquake was at 25
km west of the capital, Port-au-Prince; the densely populated region located in the Gulf
of Gonâve, is one of the most heavily affected.
The initial shock registered a magnitude of 7.0, followed by two aftershocks of
magnitudes 5.9 and 5.5. More aftershocks occurred in the following days. The shocks
have been felt across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as in sections
neighboring Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico further south of the city of Jacmel, and the
western city of Léogâne, much closer to the epicenter than Port-au-Prince, has also
sustained considerable damaged.
The earthquake that devastated Haiti was the biggest tremor that hit the island nation.
Haiti lies between two tectonic plates, the Caribbean Plate and the North American
plate. These plates are rigid sections of the Earth's crust falling separately onto the
molten core of the Earth. They glided past each other. When the two jagged edges
catched, they held at first. Eventually, the mounting pressure forced them to grind past
each other, that is what caused the earthquake. Geologists initially blamed the
earthquake along with the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden (EPG) strike-slip fault system for
the displacement of the Caribbean tectonic plate to the east. However, there was no
observed surface deformation; the rupture of the central strand of the fault system ruled
out as a cause. The earthquake had the same strength as the Loma Prieta earthquake
that struck in San Francisco during the 1989 World Series. Nevertheless, the
earthquake in Haiti was 6.2 miles below the surface; the proximity of the quake made its
impact much more potent.
Approximately 3 million individuals were affected; this earthquake was the most
catastrophic event at any point experienced in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere. The death toll approximately reached 200,000-300,000, and there were at
least 300,000 harmed individuals. Around 5 million individuals were internally displaced.
As a result, the country faced the most significant humanitarian need in its history.
REFERENCES:
Reid, K. (2019, November 25). 2010 Haiti earthquake: Facts, FAQs, and how to help. World
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Pallardy, R. (2016, May 06). 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/event/2010-Haiti-earthquake
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3sg87h/revision/2 (walay author and date)
What caused the devastating Haiti earthquake? (2010, January 13). NBC News.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34842469/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/what-caused-
devastating-haiti-earthquake/#.Xm9TFagzbIV