Also, access by road to the southern region, where the quake struck, has been restricted by gang control of key areas although Henry said police would accompany any convoys going to the south. The earthquake comes just over a month after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise , who had been ruling by decree, which deepened the country's political turmoil. That region had only recently recovered from Hurricane Matthew, which struck in , killing hundreds and causing widespread devastation.
Each year of mismanagement did not hurt but the cumulative effects made us vulnerable to everything," said Haitian entrepreneur Marc Alain Boucicault on Twitter. In Port-au-Prince, residents traumatized by the quake rushed, screaming, into the streets and stayed there as the aftershocks rumbled on. They were flying outside," said resident Sephora Pierre Louis.
People are still outside in the street. The quake sent shock waves as far as Cuba and Jamaica although there were no reports of material damage, deaths or injuries there. It's been years since such a big earthquake," said Daniel Ross, a resident in the eastern Cuban city of Guantanamo. He said his home stood firm but the furniture shook. It wake me up. My roof kind of make some noise," said Danny Bailey, 49, in Kingston.
President Joe Biden said he had authorized an immediate U. We must show a lot of solidarity with regard to the emergency," he added. We will act quickly. The impoverished country, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes.
In , a 7. John Bellini, a geophysicist with the U. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, said Saturday's quake is "significantly stronger" and "a lot larger in the amount of energy released" than the one in There may be more bad news for Haiti. The country also is in the cone for Tropical Storm Grace , which could approach by late Monday. Earlier Saturday, the U.
Geological Survey reported a 6. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Politics Covid U. News World Opinion Business. Share this —. In the case of the Haiti quake, the epicenter of the quake was only 10 miles 15 km southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince and just 6. In contrast, areas like the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific can experience earthquakes that originate hundreds of miles down in the Earth's crust, which would already put them hundreds of miles away from the earthquake, Blakeman explained.
Earthquakes are much deeper in this the South Pacific because instead of two plates sliding past one another, one is descending deep into the Earth below the other, allowing earthquakes to originate much farther down below the surface. This is called a subduction zone. While it killed scores of people and caused billions of dollars in property damage, the relatively high construction standards in the city kept the devastation much lower than what will likely be the case in Haiti.
Haiti is a poor country with lax building standards and high population density, which makes buildings more likely to crumble, according to Blakeman. Experts have estimated that the death toll will likely reach into the thousands, with untold numbers homeless. Another problem is the relative rareness of major earthquakes in the area coupled with poor public communication and education, which likely means that most Haitians were not prepared for such a disaster, as many Californians might be.
Information from the earthquake will help scientists better understand the future quake threat that exists for Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean by providing information that isn't available from the previously known major quakes in the region, which occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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