Quake is worst UN has ever faced
Asian tsunami of 2004 was deadly but didn't wipe out government structures
By HUI MIN NEO, AFPJanuary 17, 2010
Haiti's quake is the worst disaster ever confronted by the United Nations, a spokeswoman said yesterday, with entire areas essentially obliterated and local services non-existent.
"This is a historic disaster. We have never been confronted with such a disaster in the UN memory. It is like no other," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP.
She noted that at least local government structures remained after the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia's Aceh province, but in the Haiti town of Leogane, for example, all public services were lost in the earthquake.
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