This picture came from the very respectable http://www.petergreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/haiti-earthquake.jpg website. it shows very clearly the epicenter of the earthquake and where that is in relation to the capital city and in fact to the rest of the island.The earthquake in question was only a 7.0 on the richter scale, and according to the USGS (US geographical society) the focus was about 6 miles under the ground although i am unsure if this is insignificant or not? The main problem with hiati is that the much of the building infrastructure is rather basic. I feel that perhaps if the structure had been more prepared for such a disaster then they would have been much better off. Although saying this even some of the more prestigous and expensive buildings were damaged including the royal palace and the national cathederal and the parlimentary buildings.
The poor structure of the buildings was not helped by the fact that there were some 50 aftershocks of 4.2 or greater! nearly 170000 bodies have been found and it has been claimed that 20000 comercial buildings and over 250000 residences have been destroyed or severly damaged. Despite these desperate figures countries all over the world have pulled together and provided aid, among the most notable donations are those from the US $100 million, the EU$ 474000 and Brazil $210 million. If you want to read more accurate and interesting info, here is the link to the wikipedia page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
