Haiti Earthquake and the Aftermath
In the afternoon of the 12th of January 2010 in the southern part of Haiti, where people were in the middle of doing their usual activities of daily living, suddenly felt a massive shake in their lands with buildings and hundreds of establishments collapsing at the same time. It was definitely an act of nature. They were struck by a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 with the epicenter located 15 miles west southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. It was then immediately followed by two strong aftershocks recorded at a magnitude of 5.9 and 5.5 respectively. This was the first major earthquake that struck the land in more than a hundred years. The extent of the catastrophe was far more than imagined.There were thousands of people that were affected by the earthquake with death tolls still uncertain with a number of people still trapped and missing from the rubbles. Every now and then, there are people found within the debris and some are still showing signs of life. There were many individuals that were devastated because their families were killed and some are not yet found. Since Haiti is known to have major problems with their economy, and it is a nation that has not yet fully industrialized, this greatly affected the search and rescue operations for the remaining survivors and bodies that are trapped, deep down. There was no equipment available that will make the work easier for the rescuers and despite that, people still strived hard to search for survivors. With the non-stop search and rescue operations, there were many survivors saved and this gave hope to those families that fear of losing their loved ones. It’s a race against time because the longer the survivors are trapped from the rubbles; the slimmer the chance for survival plus the fact that collapsed concrete is very unstable. Included in the casualties were personnel’s of the United Nations since their building was one of those that collapsed. It was feared that most of them are dead because of the extent of the collapse but hopes are still high. Power lines were out and communication was hard. This added to the serious problem that Haiti is experiencing now. It became hard for the people to continue with the rescue since the place was in total darkness during the night of the incident. There were many screams and cries heard all over the place suggesting of extreme devastation.
Losing a loved one is not the only problem residents are facing. They experience the more devastating aftermath of having no homes to stay, no clothes to wear, no water supply, medicines and food to eat. People sleep on streets and starve. There were many individuals that were traumatized and survivors were seriously injured. There were also hospitals that collapsed when the earthquake stricken burying patients in concrete. Government establishments did not escape the harsh force of nature for most of them are destroyed. Hotels and supermarkets with hundreds of tourists were also included. Since the population of Haiti is big and most of its people are within the poverty line, there were reports that people have been into fights and crimes just to have something to feed their hungry stomachs. It is a desperate reality that many are facing. Others religious beliefs are also tested by the incident. Others continue to live up all to God by engaging in prayers and joining mass while others end up blaming God. It’s a common scenario when such catastrophes occur and these people need a support system to help them with their concerns.
The massive devastation that occurred in Haiti has stunned the world and immediately after the catastrophe, countries from the US, Europe and other parts of the world send troops and aid. They provided the people with basic necessities that will help ease their pain and sufferings. The news immediately circulated the globe notifying individuals that have relatives in Haiti and urging people to help those that were devastated. The United States sent equipments and men that will help in making the search operations as quickly as possible to look for more survivors. The campaign for help in Haiti has been widened with the help of political leaders and the media. They continue to urge people to donate money so that the people of Haiti will be able to have something to eat and use for their daily needs. Help is continuously arriving and more groups are working hard to accommodate everyone. It is actually in these times wherein we can see people united and working together for the betterment of the people.
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