Haiti hit by a massive earthquake, the UN representative would have died

Definition: A earthquakeOr earthquakeResults from the sudden release of energy accumulated by the constraints on the rocks. The result of the breakdown of rocks at the surface is called a fault. The location of the breakdown of rocks in depths is called home. Fewer earthquakes are caused by volcanic activity or artificial (eg explosions). It occurs in many earthquakes every day, but most are not felt by humans. Approximately one hundred miles earthquakes are recorded per year on the with seismographs (machines that can detect seismic waves over thousands of miles from home earthquake). The most powerful of them are among the disasters the most destructive natural.

A huge earthquake has stricken Tuesday in Port-au-Prince, killing up to Presidential Palace a Haitian capital without any relief for the victims, who might be counted by hundreds.

AFP

The owner of the Mission of UN peacekeeping in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the Tunisian Hedi Annabi is one of those victims and all those who were "around him" in the UN building, "said Minister French Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner on radio RTL.

Traumatized by the long shock of magnitude 7, which occurred At 16:53 local time (21H53 GMT), just 15 km west of the congested capital, many Haitians spent the night outside, waiting for the day Wednesday to begin assess the number of deaths and damage.

"The dead are counted by hundreds when it is possible to take stock," warned a doctor, himself wounded in the left arm covered with blood. The quake was followed by a thirty very violent aftershocks, up to a magnitude of 5.9.

Haiti had not experienced an earthquake of such force for at least a century, said the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS).

In the midst of dead bodies or injured, many public buildings have collapsed in the center of the capital of the poorest country in the Americas. The National Palace, seat of the presidency collapsed, and many ministries, parliament and church. President René Préval and his wife survived the disaster, has assured the ambassador of Haiti in Mexico.

Some 200 people are missing under the rubble of a large hotel, Montana, 'stated the French State Secretary for Cooperation, Alain Joyandet, who has expressed concern in particular the fate of the 1,400 French nationals in Haiti, which Most live in the capital.

Three Jordanian peacekeepers to the stabilization mission to the UN in Haiti were killed and 21 wounded, said Wednesday a military source in Amman Jordan.

The quake was strongly disrupted communications in a country already very rudimentary infrastructure, making it virtually impossible to transport the injured in hospital still standing. Looters were on hand at work in a supermarket north of Port-au-Prince.

According to an AFP journalist on this site, shaking, very violent and lasted longer than a minute to blow up vehicles in the street and releasing an enormous curtain of white dust on the city of some two million.

"The center of Port-au-Prince is destroyed is a real disaster," said one resident who walked several miles to return home amid scenes of panic.

Many students at a private university were trapped under the rubble of their institution. "We were able to identify some people from the rubble, there are many wounded," said university official on Radio Signal FM in Petion-ville, east of Port-au-Prince.

Other universities, such as the National School of Administration and the University of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) have also been destroyed.

The Ambassador of Haiti to the United States said it was a "major disaster" for the country.

In Washington, President Barack Obama has assured that the United States was "ready to come to the aid of the people of Haiti." Several other countries also offered assistance, including Venezuela and Canada. The France must send two planes carrying dozens of rescuers and dogs specialized in finding and rescuing people buried.

The United Nations was preparing his side a massive international relief. The World Food Program has announced the dispatch of two aircraft emergency food aid.

The Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) has announced an initial funding should be launched during the day Wednesday.

To measure the power of an earthquake, the USGS uses the "moment magnitude (Mw). On this scale open, an earthquake reaching a magnitude of at least 6 is considered strong.

Haiti was struck in 2008 by a series of hurricanes that killed more than 800 deaths and about one million people were affected. Some 100,000 houses were damaged. The Caribbean country has a population of about 9 million inhabitants. Some 80% of Haitians live on less than two dollars a day.