Haiti Earthquake Strongest in 200 Years

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday, the strongest earthquake to hit the region in more than two centuries, geologists say.


HAITI EARTHQUAKE PHOTO

* Devastation on the day after
* Aerial photographs of earthquake damage

Although earthquakes are not rare in the Caribbean island country, the intensity of the recent earthquake surprised Haiti experts.

"It is very strange" from a historical perspective, "said Julie Detton, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Haiti is a part of the island of Hispaniola, which also hosts the Dominican Republic. The last major earthquake to strike Haiti side of the island in 1860.

Initial earthquake yesterday, which beaten to approximately 5 hours local time yesterday, led to dozens of aftershocks, of which about 15 magnitude 5 or greater.

Earthquake or other major earthquakes could cause is not known.

"It is not something that we can project happen," said Detton.

"But certainly when you moving two [records] in one area, you are building stress and tension in another."

(See also "Haiti Earthquake, Landslide Deforestation Heighten Risk.")

Earthquake Haiti: Seismic Stresses

Haiti The earthquake was caused by the release of seismic stresses that had built up around two tectonic plates.

The movements of these plates are called strike-slip faults, where two parts of the crust of the earth are grinding past each other in opposite direction.

"The Caribbean plate to the east on the North American plate," said Detton.

When the tension along the fault lines reach a certain point, they can be released in bursts of energy that cause earthquakes, although it is unclear where the energy will be discharged as a series of small tremors or if a big temblor.

Since Haiti is very close to the border where the Caribbean and North American plates meet, fracture lines in relation to the movements of the plates' run across the country, Detton said.

In fact, the epicenter of the quake was about 10 miles (16 kilometer) southwest of capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. (See a map Haiti.)

Haiti is also the earthquake was very shallow, which centered only 6.2 miles (10 kilometer) below the surface of the earth.

This put impoverished Port-au-Prince near the most intense shaking, which contributes to the level of destruction: Thousands are feared dead and many buildings have collapsed, schools and hotels to the Haitian Parliament and the local UN headquarters.

The American Red Cross estimates that the earthquake Haiti have some three million people in total.