A powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude rocked Haiti just before
5 p.m. Eastern time, 10 miles southwest from the highly populated
capital of Port-au-Prince.
There were two aftershocks — of 5.5 and 5.9 magnitude — that
followed in the last hour, and more are expected to happen.
The city has about 2 million people, according to National Geographic.
According to several news reports, a large hospital in the capital had
collapsed, and people were screaming in streets full of rubble.
Haiti, by far the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, has been
beset by natural disasters for most of its recent history. The island is
struck by an annual series of hurricanes and is particularly vulnerable to
storm-related disasters because much of its forests have been chopped
down and used for fuel, leaving the country with very little tree cover.
