Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Haiti

Haiti Earthquake - Sit.report No. 137

Attachments

Time : Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 21:53:09 UTC

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:09 PM at epicenter

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 03:53:09 AM - Dhaka

Duration : More than a minute

Magnitude : 7.0 M Richter scale

Intensity : Strong to Severe

Depth : 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Location : Latitude, Longitude: 18.451=B0N, 72.445=B0W;

Distance of Epicenter : 15 km (10 miles) SW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

140 km (90 miles) E of Les Cayes, Haiti

145 km (90 miles) WNW of Barahona, Dominican Republic

1140 km (710 miles) SE of Miami, Florida

Damage : All communications with the island went down after the earthquake and no details were immediately available on any people killed or injured in the disaster.

Tsunami alert : A tsunami alert for the Carribean region was immediately issued after the earthquake struck at 2153 GMT. A specific warning was issued for Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and Dominican Republic.

The strongest earthquake in more than 200 years measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti Tuesday toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic, according to the AFP. US officials reported bodies in the streets and an aid official described "total disaster and chaos." Communications were widely disrupted, making it impossible to get a full picture of damage as powerful aftershocks shook a desperately poor country where many buildings are flimsy. Electricity was out in some places. According to a aid group, there must be thousands of people dead.