M7.0+ Earthquake in Haiti

[OHWX97]

A very powerful and devastating earthquake has struck the Haitian peninsula this morning. The rupture occurred just to the west of where the catastrophic 7.0 occurred in 2010 and may have been a higher magnitude than that one. Additionally, the quake has been felt in Jamaica, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.

 

[TornadoFan]

Major damage.

 

[Evan]

The Haitian people need our help like never before:



I basically never use Facebook, but without immediate international assistance (especially from charities already working in Haiti), the suffering and mortality is going to be immense. Haiti was already in turmoil, and has never fully recovered from the 2010 earthquake, and there's going to be extreme loss of life unless good people unite to help the Haitian people.

 

[warneagle]

The only good news is that this one was farther away from Port-au-Prince than the 2010 quake. This one was also a bit shallower though (10 km vs 13 km in 2010).

 

[bjdeming]

This is bad at any time, but when the ground is soaked with rain...




The BBC reports 700 dead thus far.

 

[warneagle]

And more rain on the way thanks to Grace (which is struggling today but will still be a rainmaker regardless).

Death toll is up to 724 per RTÉ.

 

[bjdeming]

Updated USGS aftershock forecast. One in 20 chance of something as big or bigger, but only through tomorrow, then it goes down.

They've mapped almost 1600 landslides.

The casualty count, of course, is horrifying. I hope nothing more happens any time soon.