Haitian Capital a "total disaster and chaos", likely thousands dead

[cali]

7.0 quake leaves Haiti capital in 'total disaster and chaos'
People wail from the rubble across Port-au-Prince, where a hospital reportedly collapsed and bodies lie in the streets. One aid official estimates 'there must be thousands of people dead.'
Haiti


By Tracy Wilkinson

January 12, 2010 | 6:05 p.m.

Reporting from Mexico City - A mighty earthquake rocked the tiny, impoverished island nation of Haiti today, collapsing a hospital, the presidential palace and other buildings and triggering what one diplomat called a "catastrophe."

As night fell on the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and other towns, reports of extensive destruction were trickling out. Tsunami alerts were issued for Cuba, the Bahamas and much of the Caribbean.

The quake, one of the most powerful ever in the region -- measuring a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and centered about 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, a city of 2 million -- had a shallow depth of just five miles. It struck at 4:53 p.m., followed by several strong aftershocks.

All of that augured vast damage and overwhelming casualties. Electricity was out tonight through the darkened capital, phone lines were down, and the airport was shut. Screams for help seeped from felled buildings, and chaos reigned.

"I can hear very distressed people . . . a lot of distress, people wailing, trying to find loved ones trapped under the rubble," Ian Rodgers, with Save the Children in Port-au-Prince, told CNN by telephone.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-quake13-2010jan13,0,7871308.story