A Textbook Earthquake
In a part of the world known for turmoil, violence, unrest, and misery, now becomes the world’s most tragic public disaster since the tsunamis in Indonesia in 2004. Lying along a fault line, estimated to see no more than 8mm of movement per year, there was a slippage large enough to bring about a 7.0 earthquake 6.2 miles below the surface, rippling through the ground like the waves of a stone thrown onto the surface of a tranquil pond. Most larger earthquakes are not just rattling of the ground, but waves of energy literally tearing through the earth, bouncing everything on the surface up and down until the quake ends. Imagine building a lego building on a table top, then shaking it up and down for 10 to 15 seconds. The buildings, made of little more than bricks, cinder blocks and concrete, when shaken up and down, have little reinforcement to keep them from collapsing.
The image above is of the main quake, 7.0, and the over 40 aftershocks in the 45 hours following the earthquake. The data is from the United States Geologic Survey, displayed on Storm Force 31’s VIPIR Max, a display computer produced by Baron Services in Huntsville, AL.
While you can read numerous accounts of tragedy all across the web, I have placed into this blog two images provided to WAAY-31 through Baron Services that are of the famous Port-au-Prince Cathedral by Digital Globe. The first is before the earthquake occurred.
Notice the famous cross shape of one of the world’s most famous cathedrals. The image below is of the cathedral following the collapse that took the life of the archbishop serving in his office at the time of the quake.
Even though the shadowing and angle of imagery is different, it is clear to see the roof has collapsed, with a pile of rubble in the street on the lower end side of the cathedral. A tragic level of destruction of a cathedral build from 1884 to 1914.
Now, while this is the first strong earthquake since 1860, Port-au-Prince is not a stranger to damaging earthquakes, with previous quakes occurring in the 1700s.
For continuing coverage of the Haitian Earthquake of 2010, keep watching WAAY-31 News, ABC World News, and of course, your favorite internet news and information sites.
Brad Huffines, Chief Meteorologist / Storm Force 31
