http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake New 6.1-quake hits Haiti, people flee into streets PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A powerful new earthquake struck Haiti on Wednesday, shaking buildings and sending screaming people running into the streets only eight days after the country's capital was devastated by an apocalyptic quake. The magnitude-6.1 temblor was the largest aftershock yet to the Jan. 12 quake. It was not immediately clear if it caused additional injuries or damage to weakened buildings. Wails of terror rose from frightened survivors as the earth shuddered at 6:03 a.m. The U.S. Geologic Survey said the quake was centered about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Port-au-Prince and was 13.7 miles (22 kilometers) below the surface. Last week's magnitude-7 quake killed an estimated 200,000 people in Haiti, left 250,000 injured and made 1.5 million homeless, according to the European Union Commission. A massive international aid effort has been struggling with logistical problems, and many Haitians are still desperate for food and water. Still, search-and-rescue teams have emerged from the ruins with some improbable success stories — including the rescue of 69-year-old ardent Roman Catholic who said she prayed constantly during her week under the rubble. Ena Zizi had been at a church meeting at the residence of Haiti's Roman Catholic archbishop when the Jan. 12 quake struck, trapping her in debris. On Tuesday, she was rescued by a Mexican disaster team. Zizi said after the quake, she spoke back and forth with a vicar who also was trapped. But he fell silent after a few days, and she spent the rest of the time praying and waiting. "I talked only to my boss, God," she said. "I didn't need any more humans." Doctors who examined Zizi on Tuesday said she was dehydrated and had a dislocated hip and a broken leg. Elsewhere in the capital, two women were pulled from a destroyed university building. And near midnight Tuesday, a smiling and singing 26-year-old Lozama Hotteline was carried to safety from a collapsed store in the Petionville neighborhood by the French aid group Rescuers Without Borders. Crews at the cathedral recovered the body of the archbishop, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, who was killed in the Jan. 12 quake. Authorities said close to 100 people had been pulled from wrecked buildings by international search-and-rescue teams. Efforts continued, with dozens of teams hunting through Port-au-Prince's crumbled homes and buildings for signs of life. ---------------------------------------------------- I didn't know if I shouldv'e merged this or not. Merge if necessary.
That 6.1's going to feel more like an aftershock than anything else..., but it must be a nightmare to feel anything shaking after all that. Just to clarify, earthquakes are measuredby a logarithmic scale, meaning a 7.0 is 10 times as large as a 6.0, etc. A 6.0 would feel more like a car crash, but depending on how close the surface of the seismic activity, it could still be very dangerous.
I watched a show on the tectonic processes that built the Himalayas last night. It's the fastest moving plate on the planet and hence will produce the most violent earthquakes. When a 7.0 hits Kathmandu, Haiti is going to look like a picnic.
Land settles. The first earthquake was the first announcement of small seismic activity in the months and years to come. After the big 1985 Mexico City earthquake, several smaller ones happened after, and a smaller one was before that. These are aftershocks. It was expected.
I kind of wish Haiti was like the island in "Lost". Just move the damn thing by turning a wheel. I'm not even sure I see the point in rebuilding the place if quake activity is predicted. What if another quake or two happens during rebuilding? I'm not sure what they are supposed to do...but it seems to be quake central now. And, watching the news on the hang-ups getting them aid is frustrating. Reading stuff like the military is turning away medical aid flights for food aid flights leading to more deaths because workers like Doctors without Borders cannot get their aid in there in time. It sucks. Like we all knew it would be, it's a complete logistical nightmare where even the best efforts will be criticized. I've already seen some finger pointing to the US military and UN. I mean...frack...I'm sure they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Relief efforts are never going to be perfect but lessons can be learned form each one and applied next time. Are these people just supposed to live in tent cities for years to come...or do they need to be moved to another part of Haiti? They are going to be waiting a long time for reconstruction to get a foothold. Just ask New Orleans.
I remember the 7.6 earthquake in el salvador back in 01'. it was followed by weaker ones but they caused mud slides, that were just as deadly. Ugh, It's tough just watching the news.
What a apocalyptic disaster again stroke that country, damn what the hell is going down with the earth crust displacement? Should it come to life in 2012? Just pray for the victims in Haiti and wish them good luck, my heart and prayers all go out to those who lost their loved ones in this devastating tremor.
Yes. Look at map of the worlds earthquake risks: http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/n_map_GSHAP1500.htm Earthquakes are inevitable, it's just a matter of when for billions of people. Standard construction techniques, typically post and beam or cheap masonry bearing walls are very susceptible to failure in an earthquake. Here's Kathmandu on the world's most active fault line: Hmmm, how's that going to go?
I guess they better start buying tents then. I was mainly referring to post-earthquake reconstruction. I wouldn't want to camp for ten years waiting on reconstruction to build me a new place to live...but they will have to if they don't relocate to somewhere where infrastructure actually exists. Since most of them are poor, I guess they don't have much choice.
I thought this was cool, and this Haiti thread is as good as any: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8470270.stm [rquoter]How does Haiti communicate? Minutes after the earthquake, as phone lines collapsed, Haitians tried to discover the fate of relatives and friends by using the web and social networks. "I don't know how, but most of the network infrastructure survived," said Reynold Guerrier, a network engineer at the Haitian Association for the Development of Information and Communication Technology (AHTIC). Mr Guerrier said they still needed diesel to run their data centre, and he has been using the web to ask aid organisations for help. But as many were e-mailing, Twittering and checking Facebook, thousands of volunteers joined forces to build a tool to help those in need - a combination of web and mobile phone technologies, traditional media and the voices of people on the ground. Project Ushahidi maps reports sent by people in Haiti. They can use mobile phones and the web to inform about structural risks, lack of water and food, and missing persons. "We translate it, map it, and structure the data," said Ushahidi co-founder Erik Hersman. "Then we pass it on to organisations on the ground which can then work with the specific needs reported by the people." Ushahidi made an agreement with local mobile phone operator Digicel and created a short code to which people could text their message. That message is received by "situation rooms" set up in Boston and Washington. A third one will be set up in Geneva to provide 24-hour cover. About 10,000 Haitians have volunteered to translate messages from Creole to English and ask for more information if needed. Other volunteers and experts try to verify the information and put it into the map. This is crowdsourcing on a big scale. Patrick Meier, director of crisis mapping at Ushahidi, told the BBC: "We had a Skype chat between a volunteer here in Boston and someone on the tarmac of Port-au-Prince airport asking for GPS co-ordinates for the most obscure addresses." But how do you get Haitians who don't have access to the web to know about the map? By the most traditional media: radio. Ushahidi worked with InSTEDD, an organisation that helps humanitarian collaboration through technology innovation. They visited local radio stations and tried to get the word around that Haitians could use the text short code 4636 to send their reports. This is not the first crisis in which Ushahidi has operated. The first map was created in the violent aftermath of the Kenyan elections in 2007. "We saw that it worked and thought that, if it worked in Africa, it would work elsewhere," said Mr Hersman. On the field Organisations in the field can use the information and redirect help to those in need. Internet access, though, is an obstacle. "We are collaborating with the map and making sure that the information is correct," said Karina Brisby, head of digital campaigns at Oxfam. "But the lack of good internet access hasn't allowed us access to the map, so we are relying on more traditional forms of information like the UN cluster system and satellite phones. The map supplements that information." She believes that because internet access is not widespread in Haiti, many rely on their mobile phones. She thinks this is why mobile phones are crucial during a crisis and why some organisations worked around the clock to set up new mobile phone masts as soon as possible. "We wouldn't get any help" Joel Dresse was in the US when the earthquake struck and travelled back to Haiti to rejoin his family and children. He says he got the news from friends and relatives who were in Haiti by looking at Facebook, but added: "Internet access is getting sporadic now. I will probably have to go to the Dominican Republic border to buy some diesel for our generator." For the few who can use the web, social networks did become a good way to communicate. Yael Talleyrand, a 16-year-old in Jacmel, Haiti, said she used Twitter to "reassure people that some buildings were still up or that their family was okay". "Also, no-one thought Jacmel was hit and if we didn't do something for people to know, we simply wouldn't get any help at all," she added. [/rquoter]
My suggestion was: tents may afford the safest form of housing in destructive earthquake zones because they don't crush you when they fall down. Of course when the hurricane comes you've got another problem.
You just gave me a flashback of my tent being destroyed by wind at Big Bend National Park. We went hiking and came back to a downed tent. The poles snapped and we had to sleep in an uncomfortable minivan. . Somehow, I don't think they make a tent with a hurricane wind rating. Or, maybe they do and you just fly away with the tent still intact?
