Friday, January 15, 2010

Haiti was hit by a heavy earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on Tuesday, killing an unknown number of people, and destroying up to ten percent of buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

No official death toll has been released as of yet, although the United Nations says that up to fifty thousand people may potentially have been killed. An estimated 300,000 more were left without homes.

In a special photo report, Wikinews looks at the extensive damage caused by the disaster.

To find more information about a certain image or to enlarge it, click it. For an in-depth textual report on the same subject, please see Haiti relief efforts: in depth.

  • A map indicating the strength of the earthquake, with redder areas being harder hit. The star indicates the epicentre.

  • Another graphical representation of the earthquake’s epicentre. As can be seen, it is very close to the capital, which is home to over an estimated 2.5 million people.

  • Downtown Port-au-Prince from a bird’s-eye perspective. Only a few buildings remain completely intact, most have been either damaged or completely leveled. Image: UNDP.

  • Another aerial image of downtown. Rubble lines the city streets. Image: UNDP.

  • Makeshift tents set up in a city square. Image: UNDP.

  • A man exits a restaurant after looking for his belongings. Image: UNDP.

  • The national palace, housing Haitian president Rene Preval, sustained serious damage. Both the president and his wife, however, survived the earthquake. Image: UNDP.

  • Another shot of the presidential palace. Image: UNDP.

  • Makeshift tents are set up at a soccer field, one of the few areas free from debris

  • A poor neighbourhood in the capital. Again, most buildings have collapsed or sustained significant damage. Image: UNDP.

  • The Hotel Montana, once five storeys tall, now lies in a collapsed heap in Port-au-Prince. Image: UNDP.

  • Port-au-Prince harbour after the deadly earthquake. The port was too damaged to receive cargo from aid ships sent to the country.

  • A shipping container floating in the waters near the seaport.

  • More damage caused to the seaport

  • Two US Coast Guard 270-foot cutters sit offshore of Haiti, ready to provide humanitarian aid to the earthquake-ravaged country. However, they had no place to dock since the port was inoperable

  • An aerial view of the seaport. Note the cargo containers floating out at sea and lopsided cranes.

  • The UN’s Haitian headquarters were heavily damaged by the earthquake; many UN officials are feared trapped under the rubble.

  • View of the UN headquarters, from a different angle

  • The US Coast Guard evacuating US personnel from Haiti by a Hercules C-130 airplane.

  • Haitian civilians receiving assistance in a makeshift camp set up by the Brazilian Army in Port-au-Prince Image: Agencia Brasil.

  • Brazilian soldiers in the camp giving medical aid to victims Image: Agencia Brasil.

  • Another shot of the impromptu camp Image: Agencia Brasil.

  • Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and Commander of the Army Enzo Peri board a Brazilian Air Force plane headed to Haiti, to join relief efforts Image: Agencia Brasil.

  • United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) peacekeepers trying to find survivors in the wreckage of a building Image: UNDP.

  • MINUSTAH members loading an injured person aboard a lorry

  • US Coast Guard delivering medical supplies by boat

  • A US Coast Guard member giving a small child a bottle of water in Port-au-Prince

  • US Army Lieutenant Colonel Hector Paz carrying an injured girl to receive medical treatment after being evacuated from Port-au-Prince

  • A small boy receiving medical treatment by MINUSTAH members at their logistics base Image: UNDP.

  • A body pulled out from the rubble of a school that collapsed after the earthquake Image: UNDP.

  • Another body being pulled out of the school Image: UNDP.

  • US president Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room, discussing response to the disaster