Haiti Earthquake

This is my first post on my LA Blog on my main topic. This blog post will focus more on the detailed information about the Haiti Earthquake and its history.

Haiti Earthquake

The Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Its epicentre was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. It occured on 12 January 2010 at 9:53 p.m.(UTC). By 24 February, at least 52 aftershocks of a magnitude of at least 4.5 have been recorded. A month after the quake occured, at least 3 million people were affected by the quake, about 1/3 of Haiti's popuplation Haitian government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 have been identified dead, approximately 300,000 people injured and about 1 million people homeless. Approximately 1/4 of a million residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Landmarks such as the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral and the main prison were damaged significantly. The Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard were killed. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), collapsed, killing the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.
Many countries responded to humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged, which hampered rescue and aid efforts. Confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and some looting and sporadic violence were observed.
The Haitian Government called of the search of survivors 10 days after the quake occured, on 22 January 2010.


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