Acehtsunami

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude of 7.0 Mw earthquake. Its epicenter was near Léogâne, about 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The earthquake happened at 16:53:10 local time (21:53:10 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, at a depth of 13 km. The United States Geological Survey confirmed a series of at least 33 aftershocks, fourteen of them were having a magnitude of 5.0 and 5.9. The International Red Cross predicted that about three million people would be affected by the quake, and the Haitian Interior Minister, Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, deems that up to 200,000 would have died because of this disaster.

The earthquake has created major damage to Port-au-Prince. Most of the important landmarks of the city were extensively destroyed including the Presidential Palace, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, the National Assembly building, and the main jail. Due to this major earthquake most hospitals in the area were shattered. Since the organizational structures like hospitals and schools in Haiti had been destroyed, Elisabeth Byrs of the UN called this earthquake as the worst disaster the UN had ever been faced.

The UN World Food schema has been dispensing out the aid packages containing food, while UK charity Oxfam has been distributing water. But many sufferers are still not receiving any aid, as the airport remains a restricted access. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Kim Bolduc says getting supplies to the victims from the planes is still a major difficulty. The port is badly smashed, and many roads are still blocked by dead bodies and debris.