What happened?
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake. Its epicentre was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded.As of Feb. 12, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake;the Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. The death toll is expected to rise. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.
The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.
Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed; tens of thousands of bodies were buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and some looting and sporadic violence were observed.
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Organizations Helping With Haiti Relief
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More relief information
Governments, organizations and nonprofits around the world are mobilizing to provide relief. If you would like to help, the American Red Cross is encouraging donations to its International Response Fund, which provides immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support. Also, Doctors Without Borders is in Haiti and is seeking volunteers and donations.
Text to give options
You can use your cell phone to automatically send a donation via text message. The donation will be billed to your cell phone account, in addition to any charges for the texting service.
Red Cross: Text HAITI to 90999 and a donation of $10 will go to the American Red Cross, or visit redcross.org
Yele: Text YELE to 501501 and a donation of $5 will go to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund, or visit yele.org.
WKMS does not endorse the organizations listed on this page. To research a charity, there are a number of online tools available for evaluating non-profits, including CharityNavigator.org and NetworkForGood.org.
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