Scrat;1281873 wrote: This is bad, everything is wrecked. The airport is functioning but the road to it is destroyed. Port facilities, destroyed. These people never had anything to begin with, now they will be eating one another.
Haiti Chief Says Thousands May Be Dead - NYTimes.com I've been watching this on the news. Is there anything being done about getting relief out there?
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
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Oscar Namechange
- Posts: 31840
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7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. R.L. Binyon
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
I checked my earthquake monitor about an hour ago and they've had 32 aftershocks of 4.2 magnitude or larger. Some in the high 5's. We had a 5.8 a couple of weeks ago and it sent things flying off my shelves. Scary stuff.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
First response teams will arrive today in Haiti.
Obama vows ?aggressive? help for Haiti - Haiti earthquake- msnbc.com
Obama vows ?aggressive? help for Haiti - Haiti earthquake- msnbc.com
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
oscar;1281894 wrote: I've been watching this on the news. Is there anything being done about getting relief out there?
The Salvation Army is already down there & along with the UN & Red Cross
The Salvation Army is already down there & along with the UN & Red Cross
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Reports are saying over 100,000 killed.
Very sad.
Very sad.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
mikeinie;1281930 wrote: Reports are saying over 100,000 killed.
Very sad.
omg........
Very sad.
omg........
Life is just to short for drama.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
I Googled this:
"The magnitude of most earthquakes is measured on the Richter scale, invented by Charles F. Richter in 1934. The Richter magnitude is calculated from the amplitude of the largest seismic wave recorded for the earthquake, no matter what type of wave was the strongest.
The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. Pretty impressive, huh? Fortunately, most of the earthquakes that occur each year are magnitude 2.5 or less, too small to be felt by most people.
The Richter magnitude scale can be used to desribe earthquakes so small that they are expressed in negative numbers. The scale also has no upper limit, so it can describe earthquakes of unimaginable and (so far) unexperienced intensity, such as magnitude 10.0 and beyond.
Although Richter originally proposed this way of measuring an earthquake's "size," he only used a certain type of seismograph and measured shallow earthquakes in Southern California. Scientists have now made other "magnitude" scales, all calibrated to Richter's original method, to use a variety of seismographs and measure the depths of earthquakes of all sizes."
This helps to understand the magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti. The one that caused the bridge collapse in San Francisco in 1988 was a 6.8 or 6.9. I was in a 6.7, which caused some buildings to partially collapse and the highway's center line to shift over several feet.
"The magnitude of most earthquakes is measured on the Richter scale, invented by Charles F. Richter in 1934. The Richter magnitude is calculated from the amplitude of the largest seismic wave recorded for the earthquake, no matter what type of wave was the strongest.
The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. Pretty impressive, huh? Fortunately, most of the earthquakes that occur each year are magnitude 2.5 or less, too small to be felt by most people.
The Richter magnitude scale can be used to desribe earthquakes so small that they are expressed in negative numbers. The scale also has no upper limit, so it can describe earthquakes of unimaginable and (so far) unexperienced intensity, such as magnitude 10.0 and beyond.
Although Richter originally proposed this way of measuring an earthquake's "size," he only used a certain type of seismograph and measured shallow earthquakes in Southern California. Scientists have now made other "magnitude" scales, all calibrated to Richter's original method, to use a variety of seismographs and measure the depths of earthquakes of all sizes."
This helps to understand the magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti. The one that caused the bridge collapse in San Francisco in 1988 was a 6.8 or 6.9. I was in a 6.7, which caused some buildings to partially collapse and the highway's center line to shift over several feet.
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along-for-the-ride
- Posts: 11732
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7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
From Newsweek:
Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake blanketed the island nation in devastation yesterday. In the past decade alone, aggressive deforestation had left the country without a stable food supply and extremely vulnerable to landslides. So when a tropical storm flooded Haiti in 2004, 2,500 people died. It was the same year as the rebellion that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (himself restored to office by U.S. Marines in 1994), leaving behind a mess for the U.N. peacekeeping mission to clean up. Then, in August 2008, Hurricane Gustav made landfall, followed barely a week later by Hurricane Hanna, and then Hurricane Ike a week after that. More than 800 people were killed and thousands were left homeless.
And yet somehow, despite catastrophe upon catastrophe, Haiti had been on the mend. With help and guidance it might even have achieved something like normalcy. According to a World Bank briefing from September:
Since 2004, Haiti has improved its economic and social stability, elected a president and parliament, and launched wide-ranging reforms. Nonetheless, the country continues to face huge challenges in its efforts to improve governance, stimulate growth, reduce poverty, control crime and violence, and reduce vulnerability to natural disasters and other shocks. Addressing these challenges will require many years of steady international assistance, as well as massive efforts by the Haitian government and people.
Most of Haiti's 8.8 million people live in acute poverty. In 2001, 54 percent of Haitians lived on less than a dollar a day and 78 percent on less than two dollars. GDP per capita was just $728 in 2008. Infrastructure, health and social indicators are the worst in the Americas, often below averages for Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental degradation is severe, leaving the country especially vulnerable to floods, landslides and hurricanes.
From there, things seemed to be going uphill. Just last week, Hedi Annabi, Haiti's top U.N. representative, told reporters that the country's security and economy improved in 2009 as it skirted political deadlock despite the ouster of yet another prime minister. He said democratic and economic development would hinge on legislative and presidential elections planned for this year, the earlier of which was set to take place on Feb. 23.
Yesterday, though, Annabi may have died along with his deputy, more than 150 of their staff, and thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of Haitian citizens. Even if the political progress doesn't evaporate, the country has just plunged into a humanitarian and economic hole. President René Preval survived, but the basic infrastructure of the state has been destroyed. "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," said Preval, as he described stepping over bodies this morning. With the United Nations mission—responsible for the 9,000 peacekeeping troops holding the nation together—decimated and Preval's already weak institutions in shards, Haiti's future, which showed hints of light yesterday, is looking awfully dark today.
Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake blanketed the island nation in devastation yesterday. In the past decade alone, aggressive deforestation had left the country without a stable food supply and extremely vulnerable to landslides. So when a tropical storm flooded Haiti in 2004, 2,500 people died. It was the same year as the rebellion that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (himself restored to office by U.S. Marines in 1994), leaving behind a mess for the U.N. peacekeeping mission to clean up. Then, in August 2008, Hurricane Gustav made landfall, followed barely a week later by Hurricane Hanna, and then Hurricane Ike a week after that. More than 800 people were killed and thousands were left homeless.
And yet somehow, despite catastrophe upon catastrophe, Haiti had been on the mend. With help and guidance it might even have achieved something like normalcy. According to a World Bank briefing from September:
Since 2004, Haiti has improved its economic and social stability, elected a president and parliament, and launched wide-ranging reforms. Nonetheless, the country continues to face huge challenges in its efforts to improve governance, stimulate growth, reduce poverty, control crime and violence, and reduce vulnerability to natural disasters and other shocks. Addressing these challenges will require many years of steady international assistance, as well as massive efforts by the Haitian government and people.
Most of Haiti's 8.8 million people live in acute poverty. In 2001, 54 percent of Haitians lived on less than a dollar a day and 78 percent on less than two dollars. GDP per capita was just $728 in 2008. Infrastructure, health and social indicators are the worst in the Americas, often below averages for Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental degradation is severe, leaving the country especially vulnerable to floods, landslides and hurricanes.
From there, things seemed to be going uphill. Just last week, Hedi Annabi, Haiti's top U.N. representative, told reporters that the country's security and economy improved in 2009 as it skirted political deadlock despite the ouster of yet another prime minister. He said democratic and economic development would hinge on legislative and presidential elections planned for this year, the earlier of which was set to take place on Feb. 23.
Yesterday, though, Annabi may have died along with his deputy, more than 150 of their staff, and thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of Haitian citizens. Even if the political progress doesn't evaporate, the country has just plunged into a humanitarian and economic hole. President René Preval survived, but the basic infrastructure of the state has been destroyed. "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," said Preval, as he described stepping over bodies this morning. With the United Nations mission—responsible for the 9,000 peacekeeping troops holding the nation together—decimated and Preval's already weak institutions in shards, Haiti's future, which showed hints of light yesterday, is looking awfully dark today.
Life is a Highway. Let's share the Commute.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Here is what Canada is doing:
TV.ca News Staff
Date: Thu. Jan. 14 2010 12:41 PM ET
A massive military transport aircraft, loaded with members of the country's disaster response unit and humanitarian supplies, has landed in the disaster-struck capital of Haiti.
The Canadian Forces squad called DART, or Disaster Assistance Response Team, worked through the night at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont., to load the C-17 cargo plane. It then took off at 5 a.m. ET for Port-au-Prince, and arrived around noon.
The DART team includes search-and-rescue technicians who will rush in with equipment and excavation tools to try to pluck out survivors who might still be caught under the rubble.
A medical platoon and a mobile medical facility will also arrive to help overwhelmed local Haitian hospitals, which have been inundated with injured survivors.
Later, DART electricians will work to help re-establish power and phone service destroyed by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake, and engineers will help to get roadways and bridges operational again.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said search and rescue is the first priority for Canadian teams.
"Obviously, the first priority is to try and get those people who may be still alive and can be saved," he said. "As the days progress, we'll be working on humanitarian and other responses."
Along with the DART team, the C-17 is also loaded with a Griffon helicopter, fuel, clean drinking water and food supplies.
Two navy ships loaded with more helicopters and humanitarian supplies have also been dispatched to the area.
HMCS Halifax, which was ordered back to port Wednesday, is being sent with a Sea King helicopter, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said. Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan is scheduled to depart for Haiti Thursday, laden with additional emergency supplies.
A C-130 Hercules with 20 Canadian Forces personnel on board was the first to head into the region, leaving Wednesday morning.
The troops aboard that aircraft are considered a reconnaissance team and will provide Canadian officials with "an immediate, eyes-on assessment of the needs," MacKay told reporters.
CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife said the helicopters and ships will also be used to evacuate some of the 6,000 Canadians in Haiti.
"The government will begin evacuating Canadians not only to the Dominican Republic but also directly home," Fife told Canada AM Thursday.
"Senior officials tell me that a Hercules aircraft will take more than 100 Canadians to Montreal later this evening," he added, noting that Foreign Affairs Minister MacKay will be greeting them at the airport.
More than 100 Canadians are now in the Canadian embassy compound in Port-au-Prince, where tents, food, water and medical assistance are being provided. Another 48 Canadians could soon be brought in as well.
Financial aid
Canada's minister of international cooperation, Beverley Oda, announced Thursday that Canada will match dollar-for-dollar any donations they make to registered Canadian charities to support humanitarian and recovery work in Haiti, up to a total of $50 million.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will distribute any funds donated between Jan. 12 and Feb 12 to Canadian and international humanitarian and development organizations.
Already, the donations for the estimated three million Haitian survivors have been pouring in. The Canadian Red Cross, just one group doing work in Haiti, said Wednesday evening it had already received more than $1 million in donations.
World Vision says the number of donations coming in are 10 times the usual.
TV.ca News Staff
Date: Thu. Jan. 14 2010 12:41 PM ET
A massive military transport aircraft, loaded with members of the country's disaster response unit and humanitarian supplies, has landed in the disaster-struck capital of Haiti.
The Canadian Forces squad called DART, or Disaster Assistance Response Team, worked through the night at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont., to load the C-17 cargo plane. It then took off at 5 a.m. ET for Port-au-Prince, and arrived around noon.
The DART team includes search-and-rescue technicians who will rush in with equipment and excavation tools to try to pluck out survivors who might still be caught under the rubble.
A medical platoon and a mobile medical facility will also arrive to help overwhelmed local Haitian hospitals, which have been inundated with injured survivors.
Later, DART electricians will work to help re-establish power and phone service destroyed by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake, and engineers will help to get roadways and bridges operational again.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said search and rescue is the first priority for Canadian teams.
"Obviously, the first priority is to try and get those people who may be still alive and can be saved," he said. "As the days progress, we'll be working on humanitarian and other responses."
Along with the DART team, the C-17 is also loaded with a Griffon helicopter, fuel, clean drinking water and food supplies.
Two navy ships loaded with more helicopters and humanitarian supplies have also been dispatched to the area.
HMCS Halifax, which was ordered back to port Wednesday, is being sent with a Sea King helicopter, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said. Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan is scheduled to depart for Haiti Thursday, laden with additional emergency supplies.
A C-130 Hercules with 20 Canadian Forces personnel on board was the first to head into the region, leaving Wednesday morning.
The troops aboard that aircraft are considered a reconnaissance team and will provide Canadian officials with "an immediate, eyes-on assessment of the needs," MacKay told reporters.
CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife said the helicopters and ships will also be used to evacuate some of the 6,000 Canadians in Haiti.
"The government will begin evacuating Canadians not only to the Dominican Republic but also directly home," Fife told Canada AM Thursday.
"Senior officials tell me that a Hercules aircraft will take more than 100 Canadians to Montreal later this evening," he added, noting that Foreign Affairs Minister MacKay will be greeting them at the airport.
More than 100 Canadians are now in the Canadian embassy compound in Port-au-Prince, where tents, food, water and medical assistance are being provided. Another 48 Canadians could soon be brought in as well.
Financial aid
Canada's minister of international cooperation, Beverley Oda, announced Thursday that Canada will match dollar-for-dollar any donations they make to registered Canadian charities to support humanitarian and recovery work in Haiti, up to a total of $50 million.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will distribute any funds donated between Jan. 12 and Feb 12 to Canadian and international humanitarian and development organizations.
Already, the donations for the estimated three million Haitian survivors have been pouring in. The Canadian Red Cross, just one group doing work in Haiti, said Wednesday evening it had already received more than $1 million in donations.
World Vision says the number of donations coming in are 10 times the usual.
Life is just to short for drama.
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KeepItMovin
- Posts: 3
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7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Very sad indeed. We should all do whatever is within our power to help.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi
[links removed]
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Haiti Is a Failed State: A Collapsed Nation that Defies Rebuilding Efforts
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Clodhopper
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7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Hoppy: I know you're having a bad time at the moment, but do you really think we should just walk away and let tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands more die? This might be the opportunity needed to really sort out Haiti's problem - a once in several lifetimes chance!
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Clodhopper;1283300 wrote: Hoppy: I know you're having a bad time at the moment, but do you really think we should just walk away and let tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands more die? This might be the opportunity needed to really sort out Haiti's problem - a once in several lifetimes chance!
I ain't having a bad time and I ain't saying walk away. I am saying help rescue them and doctor them but do not throw money at the sh!thole island like in the past. If it's to be rebuilt, we, or some other fine, upstanding country, should run the rebuilding projects. Otherwise, they'll build more of the same flimsy buildings they had before.
I ain't having a bad time and I ain't saying walk away. I am saying help rescue them and doctor them but do not throw money at the sh!thole island like in the past. If it's to be rebuilt, we, or some other fine, upstanding country, should run the rebuilding projects. Otherwise, they'll build more of the same flimsy buildings they had before.
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Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Oh, sorry Hoppy. I'd got the wrong idea, so I'm glad I asked.
Agree with you on this. It seems the whole country has been knocked flat. I doubt they have the organisations left to do the rebuilding themselves. I hope something can be worked out.
Scrat: When your knife hand gets tired, I'll take over. Parasites on others' misery? Can they get much lower?
Agree with you on this. It seems the whole country has been knocked flat. I doubt they have the organisations left to do the rebuilding themselves. I hope something can be worked out.
Scrat: When your knife hand gets tired, I'll take over. Parasites on others' misery? Can they get much lower?
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
First of all I feel very sorry for the people of this country and what they are going through and wish them well. It is also nice to see such a response from the international community.
What I find interesting is that we have one of the poorest countries in the world, that on a day to day basis experiences hardship and now that there is a natural disaster the world almost over responds to their needs. There are so many countries, armies, NGO’s, relief organizations there that they are tripping over each other. There are thousands of them, all who need to be fed, and sheltered as well.
And there are still parts of the country that no one has yet been to help out. It is a shame that during the time of the human disaster of day to day poverty that they are left to fight for themselves with little help, but a natural disaster and the world mobilizes.
It is also an interesting history lesson. A couple of hundred years ago or more, a place like this would be leveled, and the world would not know about it. Those who survived would have ended fighting among themselves for food and water.
It is easy to see how long ago entire civilizations would be wiped out only to have the ruins of their cities found by archeologists thousands of years later.
What I find interesting is that we have one of the poorest countries in the world, that on a day to day basis experiences hardship and now that there is a natural disaster the world almost over responds to their needs. There are so many countries, armies, NGO’s, relief organizations there that they are tripping over each other. There are thousands of them, all who need to be fed, and sheltered as well.
And there are still parts of the country that no one has yet been to help out. It is a shame that during the time of the human disaster of day to day poverty that they are left to fight for themselves with little help, but a natural disaster and the world mobilizes.
It is also an interesting history lesson. A couple of hundred years ago or more, a place like this would be leveled, and the world would not know about it. Those who survived would have ended fighting among themselves for food and water.
It is easy to see how long ago entire civilizations would be wiped out only to have the ruins of their cities found by archeologists thousands of years later.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
hoppy;1283304 wrote: I ain't having a bad time and I ain't saying walk away. I am saying help rescue them and doctor them but do not throw money at the sh!thole island like in the past. If it's to be rebuilt, we, or some other fine, upstanding country, should run the rebuilding projects. Otherwise, they'll build more of the same flimsy buildings they had before.
I know in India, when an earthquake occurs, thousands of homes collapse killing tens of thousands of people who are crammed into them.
In the UK we have building codes whereby all buildings have to pass inspection and be strong and supportive.
In India, families build their own houses out of bricks, rubble, bits of metal, plastic sheeting and cardboard boxes. All the houses are flimsy and unsafe and it only needs a relatively small quake to send these houses-built-of-cards tumbling to the ground. This is also true in South America where people build favella's or shanty towns. They are all flimsily built, very basic homes built by the poorest, for the poorest, because they can afford nothing else.
I don't know about Haiti, but I imagine life is exactly the same! Its not about greedy builders ripping off people with shoddy workmanship or low quality materials, it's about people who have nothing, constructing homes/shelters for themselves from whatever they can lay their hands on basically.
How many houses & homes are needed in Haiti right now?
How long would it take to build them?
These people aren't going to wait around for the possibility of getting a house in 3 or 5 years time.
They are going to rebuild shelters for their families from whatever they can use from the rubble around them.
I know in India, when an earthquake occurs, thousands of homes collapse killing tens of thousands of people who are crammed into them.
In the UK we have building codes whereby all buildings have to pass inspection and be strong and supportive.
In India, families build their own houses out of bricks, rubble, bits of metal, plastic sheeting and cardboard boxes. All the houses are flimsy and unsafe and it only needs a relatively small quake to send these houses-built-of-cards tumbling to the ground. This is also true in South America where people build favella's or shanty towns. They are all flimsily built, very basic homes built by the poorest, for the poorest, because they can afford nothing else.
I don't know about Haiti, but I imagine life is exactly the same! Its not about greedy builders ripping off people with shoddy workmanship or low quality materials, it's about people who have nothing, constructing homes/shelters for themselves from whatever they can lay their hands on basically.
How many houses & homes are needed in Haiti right now?
How long would it take to build them?
These people aren't going to wait around for the possibility of getting a house in 3 or 5 years time.
They are going to rebuild shelters for their families from whatever they can use from the rubble around them.
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southern yankee
- Posts: 3906
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:38 pm
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
sooooo sad. it is much worse then anything i ever seen here. Katrina and Ike were a walk in the park. compared to the devastation in Haiti. Not making lite of those who went through these storms. But THANK the Lord we who did go through anything like that. live where we do live. Those people had NOTHING before. Now they have far less. Yes the countries who are sending aid now, will do so fo awhile. But like everything else , they will become yesterdays news.
7.0 Earthquake in Haiti.
Pictures speak volumes
Be warned these are not pretty
Earthquake in Haiti - The Big Picture - Boston.com
Haiti 48 hours later - The Big Picture - Boston.com
Despite Haiti being the hellish place it is, these are still humans very very tragic.
Be warned these are not pretty
Earthquake in Haiti - The Big Picture - Boston.com
Haiti 48 hours later - The Big Picture - Boston.com
Despite Haiti being the hellish place it is, these are still humans very very tragic.
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�
• Mae West
• Mae West