to let you know that there has been a disastrous earthquake in Haiti. Magnitude is estimated at 7.0, with many aftershocks already, including one at 5.9, and with more expected.
It has been about 250 years since an earthquake of this size hit Haiti, although they of course have suffered more than their share of other natural disasters. Suffering is widespread; I haven’t seen casualty estimates yet, but they’ll probably be high. There is a lot more information on this thread.
You can help by donating to the Red Cross International Response Fund.
Our thoughts and best wishes are particularly with the many Massachusetts residents who have family and friends in Haiti. I trust we can all agree on this one.
Please share widely!
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families and I am grateful that President Obama so quickly put the resources of the US at Haiti’s disposal and hopefully our nation can do a lot of good assisting our island neighbor to the South. Additionally its simply terrible that a nation that has endured so much misfortune over its history has to endure such another horrible tragedy.
With minimal infrastructure in place for self help. The way we and the rest of the world community respond will say a lot about “humanity” and “progress”.
from everything I can find, that entire part of the Caribbean Plate doesn’t really see activity from plate tectonics.
Of this magnitude
…donating to Partners in Health, who are based in Boston and have been providing amazing community-based medical support in Haiti for years. This page has info on what they’re doing right now…