Haiti’s Agony

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

U.S. Geological Survey The red shading shows how Haiti’s capital and surrounding communities lie directly in the zone with the worst shaking.

A potent earthquake centered just 10 miles from a city of close to 2 million people, most of whom are deeply impoverished, is a recipe for utter calamity, and initial reports out of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and nearby communities indicate that is what has unfolded in that unlucky country. It appears that at least one hospital and a school — two of the keystone structures in any community — are among the buildings that collapsed, along with dozens of shanties built on steep slopes.

The Lede blog is tracking a stream of reports, some by Skype video and Twitter, and offers information on where to send donations.

While the country has been regularly beset by other kinds of disasters, the United States Geological Survey says the last major earthquakes on the fault that is thought to have ruptured there were in 1860, 1770 and 1761. The combination of dense populations and poverty seen in Haiti’s capital is replicated in dozens of earthquake zones worldwide, from the Philippines and Indonesia to the foothills of the Himalayas to Tehran and Istanbul, so many seismologists warn that this century is primed for many more such disasters.

Sulamérica Trânsito

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