Another Brief, Mild Aftershock Hits Battered Haiti

by Alicia Cruz
The black Urban Times

They said it would happen again ... and it did. Another brief aftershock sent scores of homeless in Port-au-Prince running for what little open land was available in the middle of the night.

The U.S. Geological Survey has yet to release a measurement of the aftershock, but Geophysicist Susan Potter said people can feel aftershocks that register as low as 2.0.

However brief, the shaker further rattled already traumatized Haitians as they attempt to cope and scrounge for whatever food and water may be available.

No injuries or deaths have been reported with the latest aftershock that came on the heels of Haitian officials contemplating a massive relocation of at least 300,000 people from tent cities throughout the Caribbean nation.

Fritz Longchamp, chief of staff to President Rene Preval, said, "They are going to be going to places where they will have at least some adequate facilities. Hopefully by the end of the month."

Right now families are living in squalor with no food or water and often times in the open.

The biggest dilemma facing relief workers and Haitian officials is repairing the badly damaged pier in order to expedite the receipt of food, water and medical supplies. Hundreds are dying due to a lack of medical care and/or supplies. Only four ships have been able to dock since ships loaded with supplies began arriving days ago. The process of unloading and delivering the supplies has been tedious and lengthy.

The damage is so extensive that the military has warned Haitian officials that repairs, which will require Navy divers surveying the damage first followed by underwater construction, may be a long way off. In the meantime, they will have to load relief trucks one at a time.