where has a major earthquake triggered a tsunami warning?”
Many casualties expected after big quake in Haiti By William Branigin and Michael D. Shear Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 12, 2010; 8:21 PM A powerful earthquake shook Haiti on Tuesday, leveling buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and sending panicked residents screaming into the streets as beleaguered authorities braced for major casualties. The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0, occurred about 4:45 p.m. local time and was centered about 10 miles west of the capital. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was the largest temblor ever recorded in the area. “People are out in the streets, crying, screaming, shouting,” said Karel Zelenka, director of the Catholic Relief Services office in Haiti. “They see the extent of the damage,” he said, but can do little to rescue people trapped under rubble because night has fallen. “This will be a major, major disaster,” Zelenka said. He reported that poorly constructed shantytowns and other buildings had collapsed i
Port-au-Prince – A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti on Tuesday, toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic, officials and AFP witnesses said. A tsunami alert was immediately issued for the Caribbean region after the earthquake struck at 2153 GMT. An AFP correspondent said the ground shook for more than a minute. Just minutes later two aftershocks measuring both 5.9 and 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale hit, US officials said. “I think it’s really a catastrophe of major proportions,” the country’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN television. The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake was initially measured at 7.3 on the scale and struck 16km from the capital Port-Au-Prince, and 27km from Petionville. An AFP correspondent in Petionville said one three-storey building, housing two offices, was toppled, and a tractor was already at the scene trying to dig out victims as people fled onto t
