On a percentatage of population basis, the 225,000 dead in Haiti (and still counting) would equate to approximately 8 million dead in the USA in a single event
On a percentage of population basis the number of those now homeless (1.25 million) would equate to 30 million becoming homeless overnight here in the USA.
I am also well aware of “Chile” having lived there in May 1960 when the strongest quake in recorded history struck = 9.5
Likewise the impact in death and damage is a factor not just of the quake strength - rather in Haiti the depth of the quake was very shallow and directly under their national capital of 3 million people.
The latest quake in Chile was offshore at a distance several miles to the nearest city and was about 3 time as “deep” as the the quake that struck in Haiti.
Also the underlying bedrock in Chile - as back-stopped by the Andes Mountains -- that come down very close to the Pacific Ocean reduces the degree of vibration (and hence damage)
Thus is sum, I was merely reflecting that the UN and other international bodies have officially rated the Haiti quake as the "greatest natural disaster" based on the “total percentage of population killed and made homeless” - NOT the the quake magnitude - that would be Chile May 1960 (9.5) when 1,000 people lost their lives,
ok