today i just know the news from irc chat,
haiti earthquake disaster 13 january 2010.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8455629.stm?ls
A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti.
The extent of the devastation is still unclear but there are fears
thousands of people may have died.
Haiti's worst quake in two centuries hit south of the capital
Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, wrecking the presidential palace, UN HQ and
other buildings.
A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the
organisation. Many people have spent the night outside amid fears of
more aftershocks.
The Red Cross says up to three million people have been affected.
Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US
said the cost of the damage could run into billions.
A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing
up to send aid.
The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of
Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9
and 5.5 magnitude.
The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey
said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.
There is still no official word on casualties and the extent of the
devastation is only now becoming clearer with dawn breaking.
China has already indicated in reports in state media that eight of
its peacekeepers are buried and feared dead, with another 10
unaccounted for.
The AFP news agency quoted the Jordanian army as saying three of its
peacekeepers had been killed and 21 wounded.
The Brazilian army said four of its peacekeepers were killed and a
large number were missing.
A French official told AFP about 200 people were missing in the
collapsed Hotel Montana, which is popular with tourists.
There have also been some reports of looting overnight.
Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor
charity, told Reuters that overnight the capital was in total
darkness.
"You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to
go. There are people running, crying, screaming.
"People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights. I think
hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."
Earlier, bodies white with dust could be seen piled on the back of a
pick-up truck as vehicles tried to ferry the injured to hospital.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has
suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and
storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.
'Thoughts and prayers'
In a statement issued in New York, the UN said that its local HQ in
Haiti had "sustained serious damage along with other UN installations"
and "a large number" of personnel were missing.
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said it was unclear how many people
were in the building.
The head of the UN mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, was reported to have
been inside and is unaccounted for.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he was believed to be dead.
The UN's stabilisation mission plays a vital role in ensuring security
in Haiti.
Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, said the presidential
palace, the tax office, the ministry of commerce and the foreign
ministry had all been damaged, but the airport was intact.
He and Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, both said that
President Rene Preval and his wife had survived the quake.
The World Bank said its local offices were destroyed but most of the
staff were accounted for, Reuters reported.
US President Barack Obama said his "thoughts and prayers" were with
the people of Haiti and that he expected "an aggressive, coordinated
[aid] effort by the US government".
Venezuela says it will send a 50-strong "humanitarian assistance team".
The Red Cross is dispatching a relief team from Geneva and the UN's
World Food Programme is flying in two planes with emergency food aid.
The Inter-American Development Bank said it was immediately approving
a $200,000 grant for emergency aid.
The UK said it was mobilising help and was "ready to provide whatever
humanitarian assistance may be required".
Canada, Australia, France and a number of Latin American nations have
also said they are mobilising their aid response.
Pope Benedict XVI has called for a generous response to the "tragic
situation" in Haiti.
'Shouting and screaming'
In the minutes after the quake, Henry Bahn, a visiting official from
the US Department of Agriculture, said he had seen houses which had
tumbled into a ravine.
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Mr
Bahn, who described the sky as "just grey with dust".
He said he had been walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.
"I just held on and bounced across the wall," he said. "I just heard a
tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the
distance."
Reports on the Twitter message site, which cannot yet be verified by
the BBC, expressed the chaos in the wake of the quake.
Tweets from troylivesay spoke of the worst damage being in the
Carrefour district, where "many two and three storey buildings did not
make it".
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, a tsunami watch was put out
for Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas, but this was later lifted.
GOD JESUS SAVIOR