19 January 2009

The Guardian is calling it a  "second strong earthquake", CNN is calling it  "a strong aftershock", but either way you phrase it, an already destroyed country has been shaken once more.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 13.7 miles. The tremor was centered 26 miles north-west of Jacmel, hitting the more rural areas of Haiti that had been the most protected by last weeks earth quake and where a lot of city dwellers had gone to find relative calm.

The Associated Press said "wails of terror" could be heard from people as they fled buildings already left in ruins by last week's quake. It was not immediately possible to assess what additional damage the new quake may have caused, but a second tremor this strength can pose significant damage when buildings are already teetering precariously.

AID is still trickling in as they try and battle against all the logistical problems, while desperate survivors grow ever-more frustrated.

 

On Tuesday, 13 January 2010, the Caribbean country Haiti was hit by their worst earthquake in 200 years. It struck about 15 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale.

With international aid trickling in slowly, people still hear screams coming from piles of rubble four days on, and are desperately try and dig people out with their bare hands; due to the lack of heavy machinery. Prospery Raymond, from Christian Aid in Haiti, said, "I do not have words to describe what I have seen… I have never seen so many dead bodies."

-         Gen Keen, running the US military relief effort, when asked about death toll estimates between 150,000 and 200,000 people, said: "I think the international community is looking at those figures, and I think that's a start point. Clearly, this is a disaster of epic proportions, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us," he said. (BBC news)

With needed structures like hospitals, aid offices, airports… all laying in ruins, Haiti’s time is running out. In an article published on Guardian.co.uk, Richard Morse, hotel manager of the Hotel Oloffson said, "The streets are now Haiti's living room and bedroom, with everything closed. Money, food, drinks, supplies, rotting bodies, impatience, despair will all become a problem."

Planes laden with supplies and search-and-rescue equipment were landing at the airport, but doctors worried dehydration and disease might outpace them, with the Port-au-Prince airport struggling to cope with the influx, forcing arriving aircrafts to circle for up to two hours before landing. The main challenge is to repair the badly damaged seaport which will then be able to accommodate ships and helicopters carrying mass amounts of supplies and equipment.

Governments and agencies have pledged about £245m in aid, including £6m from the UK. The UN said it would launch a flash appeal this afternoon in New York for $550m in aid (note: a flash appeal is a way of structuring a co-ordinated humanitarian response).

You can donate here and here.

Fact Box:

Background information on Haiti:

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the 9 million population living under the poverty line.  70% of the population has no formal job, land or tools to survive. An earthquake of this magnitude will seriously affect already impoverished communities which are already vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters.

Earthquake:

- On Tuesday, 13 January 2010, the Caribbean country Haiti was hit by a quake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck 15km southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, and was shortly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5

- At least 25, 000 corpses have already been buried, according to Haitian government figures

- The United Nations has estimated that three million people were affected, and 300,000 left homeless. Some 40 tent cities have sprung up in Port-au-Prince, the Red Cross has estimated

- Some 80 to 90% of buildings in the town of Leogane, just outside Port-au-Prince near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake, were destroyed, and 50 to 60% of buildings in Jacmel to the west were levelled

- The International Organization of Migration has estimated that 200,000 families, comprising up to one million people, need immediate shelter and non-food assistance

Ctrl.Alt.Shift Partners in Haiti:

APROSIFA (Association for the Promotion of Integral Family Healthcare)
APROSIFA works in the Carrefour Feuilles slum district of Port-au-Prince. It provides health services (clinics for women, families, and young people); HIV/AIDS prevention, cultural and social activities in which they can participate; nutritional recuperation, and literacy/health education classes for their mothers and support for HIV positive women.

GARR (Support Group for Refugees and Repatriated Persons)
GARR aims to bring about a strategic response to the problem of the expulsion of Haitian migrants from the DR.  It is working to establish community-based committees to attend to the needs of these people and to address other problems in the border region, whilst lobbying for ways of overcoming these problems.

GRAMIR (Countryside research and support group)
GRAMIR works with farmers groups in the provinces of Nippes and Grande Anse, along Haiti’s southern peninsula. GRAMIR helps farmers to improve their technical and business skills. The current project supports work in seed production, crop processing and marketing food products such as fresh fruit.

What our partners are doing:

Our partners are sourcing emergency relief items for distribution to more than 15,000 people in eight communities. We are targeting areas that are getting little help from other agencies. Five partners (the three above and our Dominican Republic partners –Solidaridad Fronteriza a DR partner based at the northern border, and the Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service) hope to provide food, tents, hygiene kits, blankets, jerry cans for water and water purifiers. APROFISA, a specialist healthcare organisation, and will also be providing medical support. As of Saturday, 16th of January 2010, every single one of our partners in the Dominican Republic is assisting in the relief effort in Haiti.
 

Images: from here.