More Quakes & Shakes in Haiti
Today (Thursday) - 3 more quakes hit Haiti
And just yesterday morning - An Earthquake woke up Haitians, aid workers and journalists alike in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, shaking buildings and sending people screaming.. [details click readmore..] ..into the streets just 8 days after the country's capital was devastated by a 7.1 magnitude major earthquake.
Many quakes have struck, several in the same days and many of severe magnitude:
2010/01/13 22:21:14 18.35N 72.51W 10 4.9 HAITI REGION
2010/01/13 21:26:17 18.51N 72.45W 10 4.8 HAITI REGION
2010/01/13 18:54:16 18.44N 72.60W 10 4.6 HAITI REGION
At a hotel near the airport where small tremors have been felt daily, the shock sent occupants into the courtyard, some in pajamas and some in their underwear.
A security officer with the relief agency World Vision yelled "Get outside. Run. Run." to people in the hallway. It was an urgent, heart-racing sprint out of the hotel, and several people hugged once they were outside.
One World Vision staffer was injured when she fell and missed a step on her way out.
"This morning was scary for me as an adult. I can't imagine what it is like for the children who are sleeping out on the streets," said Laura Blank, an aid worker with World Vision. "If I'm shaken up I can only imagine how scared they must be right now."
Blank said she was still in bed and only partially awake when the quake struck. She said she started to run to the bathroom because she wasn't sure she could exit fast enough. She didn't know what to expect because she had never been in an earthquake before, she said.
On Tuesday, U.S. military officials said they would land relief planes at two more airports today and hoped to have a seaport open by the end of the week to help victims of last week's Haiti earthquake.
Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, deputy commander of the U.S. military's relief operation in Haiti, said a second airport will be open for relief flights by today. The airstrip at Jacmel, about 30 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, will be able to accommodate C-130 cargo planes. Another airport in San Isidro in the neighboring Dominican Republic will be opened to relief flights as well, he said.
A U.S. Navy salvage ship has been surveying the damaged seaport in Port-au-Prince, and it could begin accepting cargo ships within days, Allyn said. U.S. troops also began landing helicopters Tuesday on the lawn of the shattered presidential palace.
"We are obviously very conscious of the need to have multiple points of entry," Allyn said.
Haiti's main airport at Port-au-Prince has been overwhelmed by flights bringing supplies and personnel. Relief groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have complained of a massive bottleneck at the airport, inhibiting the flow of aid.
U.S. officials have defended their handling of the airport and insisted the Haitian government is in charge of prioritizing aid. The airport received 180 flights on Monday, 10 times its normal capacity, according to the U.S. Southern Command.
"The assistance that is getting to the airport is getting out to the people of Haiti," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "The challenge is we're not at the point where we can sustain 3 million people."
Fede Felissaint, a Haitian hairdresser, said he did not mind the increasing number of U.S. troops in Haiti. "If they want, they can stay longer than in 1915," he said, referring to the start of a 19-year U.S. military presence in Haiti
Today (Thursday) - 3 more quakes hit Haiti
And just yesterday morning - An Earthquake woke up Haitians, aid workers and journalists alike in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, shaking buildings and sending people screaming.. [details click readmore..] ..into the streets just 8 days after the country's capital was devastated by a 7.1 magnitude major earthquake.
Many quakes have struck, several in the same days and many of severe magnitude:
2010/01/13 22:21:14 18.35N 72.51W 10 4.9 HAITI REGION
2010/01/13 21:26:17 18.51N 72.45W 10 4.8 HAITI REGION
2010/01/13 18:54:16 18.44N 72.60W 10 4.6 HAITI REGION
At a hotel near the airport where small tremors have been felt daily, the shock sent occupants into the courtyard, some in pajamas and some in their underwear.
A security officer with the relief agency World Vision yelled "Get outside. Run. Run." to people in the hallway. It was an urgent, heart-racing sprint out of the hotel, and several people hugged once they were outside.
One World Vision staffer was injured when she fell and missed a step on her way out.
"This morning was scary for me as an adult. I can't imagine what it is like for the children who are sleeping out on the streets," said Laura Blank, an aid worker with World Vision. "If I'm shaken up I can only imagine how scared they must be right now."
Blank said she was still in bed and only partially awake when the quake struck. She said she started to run to the bathroom because she wasn't sure she could exit fast enough. She didn't know what to expect because she had never been in an earthquake before, she said.
On Tuesday, U.S. military officials said they would land relief planes at two more airports today and hoped to have a seaport open by the end of the week to help victims of last week's Haiti earthquake.
Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, deputy commander of the U.S. military's relief operation in Haiti, said a second airport will be open for relief flights by today. The airstrip at Jacmel, about 30 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, will be able to accommodate C-130 cargo planes. Another airport in San Isidro in the neighboring Dominican Republic will be opened to relief flights as well, he said.
A U.S. Navy salvage ship has been surveying the damaged seaport in Port-au-Prince, and it could begin accepting cargo ships within days, Allyn said. U.S. troops also began landing helicopters Tuesday on the lawn of the shattered presidential palace.
"We are obviously very conscious of the need to have multiple points of entry," Allyn said.
Haiti's main airport at Port-au-Prince has been overwhelmed by flights bringing supplies and personnel. Relief groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have complained of a massive bottleneck at the airport, inhibiting the flow of aid.
U.S. officials have defended their handling of the airport and insisted the Haitian government is in charge of prioritizing aid. The airport received 180 flights on Monday, 10 times its normal capacity, according to the U.S. Southern Command.
"The assistance that is getting to the airport is getting out to the people of Haiti," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "The challenge is we're not at the point where we can sustain 3 million people."
Fede Felissaint, a Haitian hairdresser, said he did not mind the increasing number of U.S. troops in Haiti. "If they want, they can stay longer than in 1915," he said, referring to the start of a 19-year U.S. military presence in Haiti
