As the Pope reaches out to the world, asking the world to be generous with Haiti earthquake relief, the Vatican announced its own loss. It announced via Vatican radio that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince was killed in the devastating 7.0 earthquake that rocked the country yesterday.
The Vatican announced that the body of Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, 65, was found under the rubble of the archdiocese. The earthquake and its aftershocks have devastated the country, which is known as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and bodies and victims continue to be found.
The quake struck at 4:53 PM on Tuesday. Its epicenter was 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince at a depth of only 5 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The USGS said it was the strongest earthquake since 1770 in the region.
The Haitian earthquake was along a well-known fault, a strike-slip fault, which generates mostly horizontal action. Strike-slip earthquakes occur when the two sides of a fault slide horizontally past each other. As there is little vertical motion, a tsunami is not as likely.
Besides the announcement of the archbishop's death, the apostolic nuncio in Haiti, Msgr. Bernardito Auza, told Vatican radio that the the cathedral and all the major churches and seminaries in Port-au-Prince were reduced to rubble. Hundreds of seminarians and priests are still trapped in the rubble, he added.
Besides the Vatican's plea for help from the rest of the world, the American Red Cross has already released $200,000 to Haiti. Of course, the Red Cross urgently needs donations; of you would like to help, please make a donation on the American Red Cross site. There is an International Response Fund that will direct money to Haiti.
The Haitian earthquake is the latest in setbacks for the country. In 2008, the hurricane season was particularly cruel. Four hurricanes, s Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike passed the country in succession. More than 800 people were killed in landslides, which destroyed 23,000 homes. The subsequent floods, from days and days of rain, ruined 70 percent of the Haiti's crops.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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