As you may have already heard, there was an earthquake in Haiti on January 12. It reached a magnitude of 7.0 on its first strike, at least ten aftershocks following. Two of them measured at 5.9 and 5.8. The force was so immense, that the entire city of Port-Au-Prince is covered in debris from concrete houses collapsing. The quake was centered about ten miles away from the city, and "could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba...", according to CNN. Downed buildings, trees, power lines and everything else imaginable cover the hills and roads of Haiti, crushing victims. An estimate by the international Red Cross reads about 45,000 to 50,000 people died during this tragedy. Many efforts of relief to those in Haiti have been launched worldwide to help out, along with many charities. Everybody is willing to help out. Many camps have been set up by the Haitians while some try to find refuge in the rubble that was left behind. "...the silence of the dead otherwise was overwhelming in a city where uncounted bodies littered the streets in the 80-degree heat, and dust-caked arms and legs reached, frozen and lifeless, from the ruins." says Yahoo! News. The U.S. began with about one million dollars in aid, and is continuing to reach out to these people with a countless amount of charities. However, not everybody is helping each other out in the dust and rocks. People have almost begun fights over food and water from donators. Hope is being sucked away from the citizens. Most search for loved ones as others pray to survive. But with all of the world trying to help these homeless people, I do not doubt that they will recover.
