Only eight days after a magnitude seven earthquake reduced thousands of buildings and homes to piles of rubble in Haiti, a magnitude 6.1 aftershock hit about 35 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince. Though too far inland to create a tsunami threat, the new earthquake horrified the survivors of last week's devastating quake, sending them running in terror out of the remaining unstable buildings.
The relief effort has already been hindered by the devastation created by the earthquake last week, and this latest shaking has revealed additional challenges for the effort. Enough food and water has still not made it into the country for the masses of hungry and thirsty Haitians. More than 250,000 food rations have been distributed in Haiti, only reaching a small portion of the millions of people in desperate need of the aid.
Criticism that international relief efforts are unorganized, disjointed and insufficient has risen, indicating that the effort has fallen way short of satisfying the great need in Haiti.
A shortage of medical supplies for the medical teams to treat the wounded has also been a problem, and with the additional wounded from this latest aftershock, frustration is increasing even more when news of stories like one of a plane carrying surgical equipment and drugs was turned away five times over minor miscommunication, and despite the fact that the agency had already received advanced authorization to land. Some of the criticism has been pointed at the U.S. military for poorly prioritizing flights.
The truth is much more simpler than the critics proclaim, I believe. Failures are simply a result of the stressful nature of the situation, the devastation, and the limited resources and ports of entry (by air and sea) available.
One possible solution has been presented by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said that the military plans to send a port-clearing ship with cranes aboard to Port-au-Prince to remove debris that is preventing many larger aid ships from docking.
Looters and bandits continue to rampage through Port-au-Prince, as well as other towns, sometimes striking only blocks away from United States troop deployments.
Haiti earthquake raises new concerns about the New Madrid fault in the United States interior.
The New Madrid Fault line extends from near Memphis, Tennessee to the southern tip of Illinois. In 1811 a 7.0 earthquake hit the Memphis area. The area has been quiet ever since, possibly ready to rumble now from the built up seismic energy over the last two hundred years. As Haiti is being hit by major quakes, minor rumblings are being recorded along the New Madrid fault.
The California Coast is also raising concern after earthquakes have rattled the opposite side of the Pacific Plate, leading many to believe that the rumblings could trigger major earthquakes along the United States West Coast.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
People Flee Into Streets as Strong Quake Strikes Devastated Haiti - Fox News
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