An Earthquake Devastates Port-au-Prince

On the afternoon of 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the southern region of Haiti, with its epicenter located roughly twenty-five kilometers west of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. The rupture occurred at a shallow estimated depth of about thirteen kilometers, largely on a blind thrust fault next to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. Most of its energy was released within about fifteen seconds, bringing intense ground shaking that shattered an urban area densely packed with vulnerable buildings, leaving much of the capital and nearby towns such as Léogâne in ruin.

The physical collapse across the metropolitan area was immediate and catastrophic. More than 180 government buildings and 13 of 15 key government offices collapsed, including the presidential palace and parliament, and the Port-au-Prince Cathedral was left in ruins. Essential civic systems stopped functioning, as hospitals, municipal offices, schools, and the central prison collapsed. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti also gave way, claiming the lives of mission head Hédi Annabi and, in all, 102 UN staff, while municipal services lost personnel, offices, and basic equipment.