Posted on 01/12/2010 2:22:15 PM PST by Pyro7480
A major magnitude 7.3 quake hit the impoverished country of Haiti Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The epicentre of the quake, which was initially reported a magnitude 7.0 off the coast, was located inland, six miles (10 km) west of Carrefour, close to the capital Port-au-Prince and was only 20.5 miles (30 km) deep. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere....
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
ML/NJ
Well, it’s not exactly like Haiti is a built up area...
A tsunami down there would be more like flushing a toilet from what I’ve seen of Haiti, kind of like a really run-down New Orleans or Detroit if you can imagine such squalor.
Maybe Gitmo will get swept into the ocean and not be coming to a city near you after all.
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
2203 UTC TUE JAN 12 2010
THIS MESSAGE APPLIES TO COUNTRIES WITHIN AND BORDERING THE
CARIBBEAN SEA...EXCEPT FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
... A LOCAL TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT ...
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR
HAITI / CUBA / BAHAMAS / DOMINICAN REP
FOR OTHER AREAS OF THE CARIBBEAN COVERED BY THIS MESSAGE...IT IS
FOR INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME.
THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 2153Z 12 JAN 2010
COORDINATES - 18.5 NORTH 72.5 WEST
LOCATION - HAITI REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.3
EVALUATION
A DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT DOES NOT EXIST BASED ON
HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.
HOWEVER - THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A LOCAL TSUNAMI THAT
COULD AFFECT COASTS LOCATED USUALLY NO MORE THAN A HUNDRED
KILOMETERS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES FOR THE
REGION NEAR THE EPICENTER SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY.
AREAS FURTHER FROM THE EPICENTER COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA
LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL COASTAL CURRENTS.
ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.
LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
-------------------------------- ------------ ------------
HAITI JEREMIE 18.6N 74.1W 2224Z 12 JAN
PORT-AU-PRINCE 18.5N 72.4W 2229Z 12 JAN
CAP-HAITEN 19.8N 72.2W 2255Z 12 JAN
CUBA BARACOA 20.4N 74.5W 2249Z 12 JAN
BAHAMAS GREAT INAGUA 20.9N 73.7W 2246Z 12 JAN
DOMINICAN REP PUERTO PLATA 19.8N 70.7W 2304Z 12 JAN
SANTO DOMINGO 18.5N 69.9W 2337Z 12 JAN
ADDITIONAL BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER FOR THIS EVENT AS MORE INFORMATION
BECOMES AVAILABLE.
here is Utah U’s webicorders for Yellowstone. They captured this quake quite well. (just mouse click a location)
http://www.quake.utah.edu/helicorder/yell_webi.htm
from another forum:
utter devestion in port au prince as being described by ambassador on cnn, palace has major damage and most of downtown is gone
ABC radio news on the hour just said that there is big damage in Port au Prince. A hospital has collapsed, among other things.
Prayers up.
Indeed! Prayers for all.
Port-au-Prince is similar to that of an amphitheatre; commercial districts are near the water, while residential neighborhoods are located on the hills above. Its population is difficult to ascertain due to the rapid growth of slums in the hillsides above the city; however, recent estimates place the city's population at between 2.5 and 3 million people.
wikipedia
The quake was 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.
Judging my heart eh, good luck with all that.
Have a close friend whose husband is in the foreign service and he got assigned to Haiti for a bit. My friend lasted exactly two weeks with the kids. She said it was so evil there, she could feel it in the air and in every cell in her body. She came back home and they met again after his tour of duty was done. She’s been everywhere and no place freaked her out like Haiti.
If I recall my history Port au Prince was a haven for pirates in the mid 1750’s. It leveled the city ending much of the piracy in the region for a while.
Prayers for those at sea.
Sounds like a peaceful place. Between Pirates, Hurricanes and Earthquakes...I can’t think of a nicer place to live./s
Oh how sad - I spent a summer building a church in Haiti. Unbelieveably poor people, but in my experience very welcoming and kind, especially the believers. They had nothing but would have given us the shirts off their backs.
Praying here...
Among many things, I took Geology in college.
Decided on Engineering and Chemistry.
Yes - there is not a lot of “gray” in Haiti - the Christians I knew struggled daily with those who practiced voodoo.
Anyone living in CA or has been through an EQ of any magnitude can appreciate how huge this is. Prayers for the victims.
First thing I thought of is: God is angry this week.
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