M 3.5 aftershock causes panic in Haiti, at least 20 injured

Last update: June 25, 2011 at 10:02 am by By

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti where around 137000 people died , whenever the ground shakes, people remember the horror of that day and panic occurs.

Haiti Earthquake

Yesterday, a shallow M3.5 earthquake, gave the ground a shake, and people rushed out of buildings, windows and into the streets. It was felt in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour and other local towns affected by the M7.0 quake last year.

More than 20 people were injured during the panic. The magnitude 3.5 earthquake had its epicenter in Leogâne. This prompted many people to evacuate their offices and homes in panic. Many cases were reported that in all forms of offices including NGOs, employees jumped from balconies, fearing the worst.

A dozen students from the National Institute of Administrative Management and High International Studies (INAGHEI) were injured in their falls from a 2-storey building.

Experience report from Sarah Shaferly to Earthquake-Report.com, written a shortly after the aftershock
My first earthquake.  I was sitting at my desk when my chair started to vibrate.  I yelled for the children to run outside.  All I could hear were people yelling, dogs barking etc.  Last may 3 seconds but was pretty scarey.
Just a couple of minutes after 9am.  I live at a quest house with over 50 Haitian visitors here.  In fact they all left our main building and are now holding their meetings in our grassy fields so I’m convinced they are frightened as you can imagine.  It wasn’t that it was huge but anything frightens them something awful.

Important advise from Earthquake-Report.com
If you are living in a house or building which has been tagged to be safe, please STAY INSIDE! Most of victims of earthquakes are killed by FALLING DEBRIS. We refer to earlier articles we have written. Click here to read our article
This advise is a generally accepted preparedness advice followed all over the world.

Important advise from Earthquake-Report.com to NGO’s and aid organizations
Please instruct your personnel, volunteers and local people working for your organizations in earthquake preparedness. Strong aftershocks are always possible and may cause further damage and injuries. You are welcome to write us if you need further advise.

The number of fatalities that resulted from the earthquake was
estimated at 46,190 to 84,961 ( p < .01) by a USAID study about a month ago. The Haitian government has had estimates between 222500 and 316000. Daniell et al. (2010, 2011) have had estimates of 137000 dead with a range between 112000 and 164000 possible. The total, we will never know, but the reality is that estimates over 200000 are too high.

20% of buildings have been red-tagged, 26% of buildings yellow-tagged, and 54% of buildings were green-tagged out of 400000 buildings affected by the earthquake.

According to a USAID study, an estimated 54,314 (64%) of greater Port-au-Prince‘s 84,866 buildings marked red– indicating they should be demolished—have been re-inhabited.

Read more here.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 3.5
UTC Time : Friday, June 24, 2011 – 14:06:45
Local time at epicenter : Friday, June 24, 2011 – 9:06:45
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10km (USGS)
Geo-location(s) : 16 km (9 miles) SSW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
118 km (73 miles) SSE of Gonaives, Haiti
139 km (86 miles) W of Barahona, Dominican Republic
1145 km (711 miles) SE of Miami, Florida

QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news. The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

a

Earthquake-Report.com headlines on twitter
@OnlyQuakeNews : Get all the headlines of our earthquake-report.com articles + regular updates on ongoing events
@QuakeSOS : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of USGS earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in the America’s and the Pacific Ocean sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was created for our QuakeSOS and QuakeSOS+ iPhone applications
@ShakingEarth : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of EMSC earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in European and Asian / Middle East sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was originally created to stimulate our Facebook account
@QuakeMaps : earthquake-report.com news with mapping notifications of ALL earthquakes M 3.0 and higher from all over the world via EMSC and USGS. This account was created for our http://www.quake-maps.com website

I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται – Yo lo siento – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

Country and location
?
Tell us where in which location you felt the earthquake
E-mail (only if you wish)
?
Your Email address might help us if we request for additional details about your experience. This field is NOT mandatory. It is up to you to give it or not.
?
People :
Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
?
People :
Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
?
People :
Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
Fittings :
Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
Structures :
Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
?
People :
Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
Fittings :
Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
Structures :
Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
?
People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
Fittings :
Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
Structures :
Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
Environment :
Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
?
People
General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
Fittings :
Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
Structures :
Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
Environment :
Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
?
People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
?
Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
Write your experience and/or additional text here : ?
Please describe what you have experienced with your own words. Other languages are also accepted.

Comments Closed

Comments

  1. Matthew says:
    June 26, 2011 at 3:23 am

    wow, I guess that shows how much I have got used to quakes in the last 9 months.
    Here in Christchurch, we get something around this size almost every day, and I just pause for a couple of seconds, then continue what I was doing.
    I haven’t been directly affected though, still living in my mostly undamaged home with all services intact, and I didn’t lose anyone I knew, so I can’t imagine what it must be like over there. :-(