If you text the word HAITI to 90999, you will make a 10 dollar donation to Red Cross. it will be added to your cellphone bill.

Vendetta1 said:

Is this true?? I want to post it on Facebook for my friends to do; better than just a prayer

CoolTarik1 said:

Yes, it's true. I just saw it on Regis and Kelly and I did it myself. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

Gracias!

CoolTarik1 said:

De nada.

An eye doctor and his 3 member surgical team from Dallas, who were there giving free eye surgeries, are still missing.

Vendetta1 said:

Gotcha, thank you for the info.

[Edited 3/9/10 13:23pm]

I just hope everyone is gonna be as generous as they were with the tsunami, even though $1 billion of aid disappeared.

You can also text "Yele" to 501501 to make a $5 donation to Wyclef Jean's relief effort via cellphone.

He was on CNN last night requesting this. So those of you who would like to make a donation to the victims of the Haiti earthquake, can also donate that way as well.

SCNDLS said:

True. But you know with every natural disaster, when it involves a relief effort, and people sending in money, somehow a portion of the funds always seem to disappear, but sending nothing at all, doesn't help. I guess it's a risk people take and hopefully the donations be received and used well.

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[Edited 7/6/10 9:41am]

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[Edited 7/6/10 9:42am]

Haiti needs your help if you r in the US text Yele to 501 501 and 5 dollars will go toward earthquake relief in Haiti. If you are outside the US, please donate at www.yele.org

They are saying 100,000 plus died?

Graycap23 said:

2elijah said:

Risk for sure, but over $1 billion GONE that's just ludicrous.

Mstrustme said:

My prayers for your family, I have a couple of friends over there as well as many, many Haitian friends here in S. Fla. I've texted my donations and I expect we will be collecting supplies for my friends to send over there.

Highland Park church is trying to rescue stranded members of its medical mission in Haiti

Highland Park United Methodist Church was trying this morning to evacuate a group of 12 doctors and other church members stranded in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.

The medical mission from the church was running a free eye clinic in Petit Goave — a village west of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, where a huge earthquake occurred Tuesday, killing thousands of people.

Church spokeswoman Kim Gifford said all the members in Haiti were accounted for. The mission is led by Kenneth Foree, former chief of ophthalmology at Baylor University Medical Center, and his wife Lila Foree.

"We're getting mixed reports on their injuries," Gifford said.

She declined to identify the other mission members because their families had not yet been contacted. She said 11 members are from Dallas and one from San Antonio.

Gifford said flights to the country have been suspended, and the church was trying to figure out a way to evacuate the mission members. Eye doctors from the church have visited Haiti annually since 1976.

The earthquake, a 7.0 on the Richter scale, was the most violent to strike Haiti in 200 years. Much of the capital city, which has a population of about 2 million, was leveled.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was among the dead, and the head of a United Nations peacekeeping mission was missing.

An estimated 40,000 to 45,000 Americans live in Haiti.

The Devastating Haiti Earthquake: Questions and AnswersBy LiveScience Staff

posted: 13 January 2010 11:21 am ET

The earthquake that devastated Haiti Tuesday was the strongest temblor to hit the island nation in more than 200 years. The magnitude 7.0 quake caused tremendous damage that officials have yet to fully characterize, and the death toll may run into the thousands.

What caused the Haiti earthquake, and why was it so devastating? Here are answers to these and other questions:

What caused the earthquake?

The shaking started on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 4:53 p.m. EST (21:53 UTC) in the Haiti region, just 10 miles (15 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The Haiti earthquake occurred at a fault that runs right through Haiti and is situated along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates, which are rocky slabs that cover the planet and fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. These two plates constantly creep past one another, about 0.8 inches (20 mm) a year, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North American slab.

"Twenty millimeters a year of slippage is very small, and that’s not what people felt," said Carrieann Bedwell, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC).

Rather, they felt the release of energy from the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault system. "The two sides of the fault line moved past each other in an east-west direction and that's what caused the energy release and the Haiti earthquakes," Bedwell said.

The high magnitude of this quake took scientists by surprise, as this system of faults hasn't triggered a major temblor in recent decades. The fault has, however, been linked to some historical big ones in 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673 and 1618, though none of these has been confirmed in the field as associated with this fault, according to the USGS.

What does a magnitude 7.0 mean?

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake. Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake would release 10 times as much energy as a 6.0-magnitude temblor. Geoscientists also look at an earthquake’s intensity, which measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake at a certain location and is determined from the effects that shaking has on people, structures and the environment.

How rare was the Haiti earthquake?

The Caribbean isn't exactly a hot zone for earthquakes, but they're not unheard of in the region.

Yesterday's earthquake was one of the largest ever to hit the area — the last time an earthquake this strong struck Haiti was in the 18th century.

Haiti takes up about half of the island of Hispaniola, while the Dominican Republic lies on the other side. In 1946, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake shook Samana, in the Dominican Republic, causing about 100 fatalities. The recent quake will likely have a much greater casualty toll because it hit a more densely populated region.

Why was the Haiti earthquake so devastating?

While magnitude is important, it's the intensity that matters to those affected by a natural disaster.

"In general, earthquakes have different characteristics whether they are in the ocean or on land and depending on the geologic setting they are in," Bedwell told LiveScience. "A mountainous and rocky setting is more characteristic of not as much ground shaking, opposed to abundant sediments and not as rocky where there’s a potential for higher ground shaking. Haiti would be a more sediment type, more severe ground shaking geologic setting."

Depth is also important, as the source of the Haiti quake was 6.2 miles (10 km) below the Earth’s surface.

"The depth of this earthquake in Haiti was very shallow, meaning that the energy that was released is very close to the surface, which can also be another characteristic that causes some violent ground shaking," Bedwell said. "An earthquake that’s very deep – that energy has a chance to go through the Earth's crust before reaching the Earth’s surface and possibly not causing as much shaking of the ground."

Unofficial USGS reports suggest the shaking lasted anywhere from 35 seconds to up to a minute, Bedwell said. "That's a pretty long amount of time for the ground to be shaking."

All of these effects get magnified when the infrastructure is shoddy and not built to withstand shaking. "Unfortunately, Haiti has a rather poor economy and not a wonderful building style for earthquake resistance, so we would expect that we would see quite severe and widespread damage from this earthquake," Michael Blanpeid, associate coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, said in a podcast released today.

A potentially similar effect was seen when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck China's Sichuan province, taking tens of thousands of lives. Earthquake engineers speculated the adobe and masonry buildings and homes, many of which were probably not reinforced with steel as building codes dictate, added to the earthquake damage, especially in more rural areas.

What is the potential for future aftershocks in Haiti?

The threat is not over. "So far we have monitored over 40 aftershocks ranging from 4.5 all the way up to 5.9," Bedwell said. About 14 of those aftershocks were magnitude 5.0 or larger.

And they expect more in the coming weeks, she said. There is no way to predict whether one aftershock will be stronger than the next, as they will come in no particular order, according to Bedwell, but typically range between 4.0 and 5.5 magnitude.

The Port-au-Prince earthquake is not believed to pose a tsunami threat because it happened on land as opposed to out in the deep ocean.

"The only positive thing about this earthquake is that because it did occur on land, it did not generate a tsunami, and so that is one hazard that is quite a severe one in the area that was not faced by the people due to this earthquake," Blanpeid said.

The USGS initially sent out a tsunami alert but as more information about the quake came in, the alert was cancelled.

"A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," according to a message posted on the USGS Web site.

The threat of mudslides is also on scientists’ radars. "Wherever there are steep slopes or coastal areas there’s likely to be landsliding, and that can bury homes, or block streams, rivers, block roads," Blanpeid said.

What was the world’s deadliest earthquake?

While the death toll in Haiti is still unknown, the deadliest earthquake in history struck that struck Shaanxi, China, in 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people.

http://www.livescience.co...01013.html

Doctors Without Borders needs all the assistance they can get


Awwwww geezzzzz

Doctors Without Borders loses all three hospitals in Haitian quake


at 12:45 on January 13, 2010, EDT.
By Michelle Mcquigge, THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO - The massive earthquake that has toppled buildings and cost untold lives in Haiti has also dealt a staggering blow to a prominent international aid organization, which is struggling to help the injured without the benefit of a single hospital.

The 7.0-magnitude quake incapacitated all three Doctors Without Borders medical facilities around the capital of Port-Au-Prince, the group said Wednesday, causing one to collapse completely and rendering the other two so unstable that they had to be abandoned.

Workers scrambled to set up temporary shelters, where they are now dealing with an influx of seriously wounded quake victims, Paul McPhun, a member of the organization's emergency management team, told a conference call.

The lack of infrastructure has made it impossible for staff to provide adequate treatment, he said.

"The best we can offer them at the moment is first aid care and stabilization," McPhun said.

"The reality of what we're facing is severe traumas: head wounds, crushed limbs, severe problems that cannot be dealt with with the level of medical care that we currently have available with no infrastructure, really, to support it."

The organization's first priority is to re-establish facilities that will enable staff to perform surgeries and other more intensive procedures, McPhun said. There may be some relatively undamaged buildings that could be converted into a hospital, he added.

Jean-Pierre Tachereau, the Ottawa-based head of emergency response for the Canadian Red Cross, said Wednesday he will head the humanitarian agency's international team being airlifted into the earthquake-ravaged country.

Their picture of the situation on the ground is still unclear because the power grid is mostly down and the agency is only getting bits and pieces of information, he acknowledged.

The initial Red Cross team will include about 60 volunteers from 10 different countries; teams from Europe, the United States and Canada are being mobilized with special equipment, including portable water and sanitation treatment plants, Tachereau said.

The team will likely have to fly into the nearby Dominican Republic and then drive across the border.

The Canadian Red Cross has set an initial fundraising goal of $2 million and Tachereau says the public can get more information on donating at the agency's Web site.

Tuesday's quake, thought to be the largest the impoverished country has seen in more than 200 years, knocked out telephone and power lines throughout Port-Au-Prince.

Communication with people in Haiti has been difficult, and McPhun said the organization is still trying to develop an accurate picture of the severity of the situation on the ground. Thousands are feared dead.

For Doctors Without Borders, the task of tending to the wounded is complicated by the fact that they cannot yet account for all of its own staff members.

McPhun said the group has not been able to confirm the safety of all 800 of its workers in the country, a number that includes about 30 international staff. He declined to provide further details.

Doctors Without Borders has already identified about 70 volunteers that will be coming to Haiti in the coming days to shore up existing resources, though he acknowledged that their arrival may be delayed due to the damage at Haiti's airport and on roads throughout the capital.

Despite the lack of information, plans to co-ordinate aid to the stricken region were already getting underway Wednesday morning. Minister of International Co-operation Bev Oda said Ottawa would be providing up to $5 million for "urgent humanitarian assistance."

"Our government is deeply concerned about the impact of the earthquake and we want to ensure that the immediate basic needs of the Haitian people are met quickly and effectively," Oda said in a statement.

"In the face of so much devastation, we will continue to work closely with local authorities, international organizations and UN agencies to help bring relief to those affected and provide support as people rebuild their lives and communities."

Haiti is the largest recipient of Canadian development assistance in the Americas and is currently the Canadian International Development Agency's second-largest development program.


©The Canadian Press, 2010

International aid relief pledges for the victims of Haiti's earthquake

at 12:57 on January 13, 2010, EDT.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A glance at some of the international aid pledges for victims of the earthquake in Haiti:

-The United Nations is releasing $10 million from its emergency funds.

-The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair the damaged phone network.

-The European Commission has approved C3 million ($4.37 million) with more funds likely.

-Spain has pledged C3 million ($4.37 million), and sent three planes with rescue teams and 100 tons of emergency relief equipment.

-The Netherlands has donated C2 million ($2.91 million) and will send a 60-person search-and-rescue team.

-Germany gave C1.5 million ($2.17 million) and sent an immediate response team. Another team with 20 rescue dogs is on standby.

-China will donate $1 million, according to Xinhua News Agency.

-Sweden has offered 6 million kronor ($850,000) along with tents, water purification equipment and medical aid.

-Venezuela has sent doctors, firefighters and rescue workers.

-Mexico will send doctors, search-and-rescue dogs and infrastructure damage experts.

-France is sending two planes with doctors, food and medical equipment.

-Britain has sent 64 firefighters with search-and-rescue dogs and 10 tons of equipment

-Iceland is sending 37 search-and-rescue specialists.

-Taiwan is flying in 23 rescue personnel and 2 tons of aid and equipment.

-Israel is sending an elite army rescue unit including engineers, rescue workers, doctors and medics.


©The Canadian Press, 2010

OH WOW..... sending out my prayers and positivity.

babynoz said:

Thank you very much

[Edited 3/9/10 13:21pm]

Vendetta1 said:

Yup. Just made a donation. I wish I could do more. It's really devastating what's going on in Haiti. This is one of the worst natural disasters i've ever heard of. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy .
[Edited 1/13/10 13:18pm]

i hope the USA will get in there to help more!

a jail collapsed and prisoners escaped...some were shot.

thanks for the links above....I will donate too.