Earthquake ravages Port Au Prince Haiti

[Jayems]

Half a million people? Jesus. It's impossible to comprehend the scope of what's happened.

Who's saying that, by the way?

[Resolute 14]

A government minister speculated on 500k, iirc.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

A government minister speculated on 500k, iirc.

President. He also speculated the 100,000, if I recall.

[Starfishy]

This is incredible. So sad for a country in need of so much prior to such a catastrophe.

[J pold]

I read that 500,000 number and my heart just dropped, absolutely awful.

[Jayems]

Link to a story citing the official saying 500k feared dead.

[HOOT]

The President of Haiti was on CNN and he even said he (The freakin' President!) didn't even have a safe place to stay last night. Scary stuff!

[TheyCallMeBruce]

The country only has 10 million citizens. 500,000 dead is just unimaginable (5% of the population). That's like Calgary suddenly suffering casualties of 50,000 in one day. I doubt this city can function after a lost like that, let alone a country.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by troutman

Is there a major fault line through the Caribbean?

Looks like the area is in the middle of a smaller plate:

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/...aultlines.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/amer...y/1421900.html

Although earthquakes are typically associated with the West Coast, the Caribbean is actually a seismically active area, where plates and fault lines are still shifting below the surface.

``That's how you got all the islands in the first place,'' said Dale Grant, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center near Denver.

The actual quake appears to have occurred along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault, a virtually immovable rock that runs from Montego Bay in Jamaica to the southern part of the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. That vertical fault is pushed by the Caribbean Plate, a unsettled land mass that moves about 20 millimeters east each year.

Such an interesting science. Too bad we only study it when bad things happen. This quake will be studied for years, and I'm interested to read more of the geophysics behind it.

Sad that a lot of people will die or have their lives ruined due to this. Makes you think....

[Ashartus]

Starting to look like this is on the same sort of scale as the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, except confined to one country. It's really hard to comprehend tragedy on this scale. I encourage everyone to donate to one of the organizations that will be helping these people out (e.g. Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, etc.).

[Knut]

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Globa...ty-and-Twitter

Wyclef is doing a donation service where you text and 5 bucks is put on your phone bill. Easy as pie!

[Jayems]

Done and done.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Hesla

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Globa...ty-and-Twitter

Wyclef is doing a donation service where you text and 5 bucks is put on your phone bill. Easy as pie!

I know this isn't a laughing matter but when I heard it was Haiti the first thing that popped into my head was "Wyclef is going to be pissed!". Of course before realizing how serious everything was.

I'm going to put that info in my Facebook status.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Hesla

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Globa...ty-and-Twitter

Wyclef is doing a donation service where you text and 5 bucks is put on your phone bill. Easy as pie!

Txt message just received:

501501.com :: YELE txt donaton not avail in Canada. Go2 Yele.org 2giv or donate $5 to Can Salvation Army 4 Haiti: txt HAITI to 45678

[corporatejay]

To expand on Wyclef's service,

He created yele haiti about 4 years ago in aim to aid his home country so this is a somewhat established charity.

[FlamesAddiction]

Wow... I haven't been keeping up with the news. I heard about the quake and how bad it was, but figured a high-end casualy mark would be around 80,000 like the Bam quake a few years ago. If the 500k estimate is correct, then it's a disaster greater than the tsunami. It doesn't seem to be getting as much attention though.

The company i work for does a lot of stuff in Haiti. I hope to see some kind of charity organized through my office soon.

[Knut]

$5 to Can Salvation Army 4 Haiti: txt HAITI to 45678

I willl do this instead.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Hesla

$5 to Can Salvation Army 4 Haiti: txt HAITI to 45678

I willl do this instead.

Man, this is getting hard to 'easily' donate:

Your carrier is not participating in this campaign. You can still donate at www.salvationarmy.ca, INFO? Visit hgf.ca/t or txt HELP

Stupid TELUS.

[Knut]

It worked ok for me on Bell.

[Starfishy]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Man, this is getting hard to 'easily' donate:



Stupid TELUS.

Yep, I just got the same message. Or one similar, also with Telus.