Entire Hospital Collapses In 7.3 Magnitude Haiti Earthquake

A very powerful earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3, hit the country of Haiti on Tuesday. It has been reported that a hospital has collapsed and other buildings have been damaged. Casualties have not yet been reported. A tsunami watch was posted for Haiti and parts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

The earthquake was centered approximately 10 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). There were two aftershocks noted. An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude.

Just three days ago the USGS reported a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck off of California's northern coast at approximately 4:30 pm PT on January 9, about 25 miles from Eureka.

Today's earthquake in Haiti is considered "major". An earthquake that measures 7.0-7.9 on the Richter scale can cause serious damage over larger areas. There are, on average, about 18 earthquakes in this range per year. See the video about the Haiti earthquake here.

Written by Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com

sources: USGS, CNN, Wikipedia

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