Haiti Earthquake

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at a depth of 8.1miles. The epicenter was located fifteen miles of Port-Au-Prince. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says this was the strongest earthquake to hit the area that is now known as Haiti since 1770. According to Wikipedia, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake, the Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. The government of Haiti also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. The earthquake caused major damage in Port-Au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. The cause of the Haiti earthquake was because of the surface of earth including the crust and the upper mantle which make up the hard rocky part we stand on is broken up into different pieces. These are called tectonic plates and they float on the much thicker denser layer below called the asthenosphere. The asthenosphere acts like a very thick liquid that flows very slowly, As the tectonic plates are floating on the asthenosphere, they move as well. Haiti is very close to a place where two plates are moving past each other, that is why Haiti earthquake happened.

Haiti after earthquake

One of the victim