M
Milenko Kindl
Milenko Kindl
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti was rocked by a second series of
aftershocks on Tuesday, toppling some structures damaged in the deadly
earthquake last month and raising tensions among Haitians already on
edge.
The magnitude-4.7 quake rattled the capital at 1:26 a.m. (0626 GMT),
followed some seven minutes later by a smaller aftershock whose
magnitude was still unknown, according to Eric Calais, a geophysicist
from Purdue University who is studying seismic activity in Haiti.
Another aftershock measuring magnitude 4.7 struck on Monday, and it
was followed by two other small tremors. They struck near the
epicenter of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000
people.
The U.S. Geological Survey usually detects Haitian quakes of magnitude
4 and above, but smaller tremors often are not detected due to a lack
of seismometers in Haiti.
"It's important that people stay cautious," Calais said. "In the next
three months, there's a significant risk that there will be an
aftershock larger than 4.7."
Some walls that had toppled in last month's quake spilled on to the
street Tuesday and damaged telephone polls split in half. There were
no reports of injuries.
"It feels like the Earth is shaking all the time since last month,"
said Ermithe Josephe, 48, who is still sleeping outside in a tent next
to her crumpled house. "We can't sleep with all of these aftershocks
and we're too afraid to go to work sometimes."
Last month's earthquake occurred along the east-west Enriquillo Fault,
where two pieces of earth's crust slide by each other in opposite
directions.
Scientists are still concerned over whether the January earthquake
released enough energy along that fault to ease the threat of more
major quakes there. They are also concerned about another fault line
in the north — the one that caused a 1842 quake that flattened Cap-
Haitien, Haiti's second largest city.
That fault runs from northwestern Haiti to the Dominican Republic and
onto land in the Dominican city of Santiago, the second-largest city
in the Dominican Republic with some 800,000 people.
"It's that fault that's accumulated more strain," said Paul Mann, a
geologist from University of Texas who arrived in Haiti on Monday with
a team to survey coastal uplifting caused by last month's quake.
More than 56 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or greater have shuddered
through Haiti's shattered capital since last month.
On Jan. 26, four people were trapped when a building collapsed on
them, and on Feb. 9, a magnitude-4 aftershock shook loose debris at a
shattered supermarket, trapping several more.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti was rocked by a second series of
aftershocks on Tuesday, toppling some structures damaged in the deadly
earthquake last month and raising tensions among Haitians already on
edge.
The magnitude-4.7 quake rattled the capital at 1:26 a.m. (0626 GMT),
followed some seven minutes later by a smaller aftershock whose
magnitude was still unknown, according to Eric Calais, a geophysicist
from Purdue University who is studying seismic activity in Haiti.
Another aftershock measuring magnitude 4.7 struck on Monday, and it
was followed by two other small tremors. They struck near the
epicenter of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000
people.
The U.S. Geological Survey usually detects Haitian quakes of magnitude
4 and above, but smaller tremors often are not detected due to a lack
of seismometers in Haiti.
"It's important that people stay cautious," Calais said. "In the next
three months, there's a significant risk that there will be an
aftershock larger than 4.7."
Some walls that had toppled in last month's quake spilled on to the
street Tuesday and damaged telephone polls split in half. There were
no reports of injuries.
"It feels like the Earth is shaking all the time since last month,"
said Ermithe Josephe, 48, who is still sleeping outside in a tent next
to her crumpled house. "We can't sleep with all of these aftershocks
and we're too afraid to go to work sometimes."
Last month's earthquake occurred along the east-west Enriquillo Fault,
where two pieces of earth's crust slide by each other in opposite
directions.
Scientists are still concerned over whether the January earthquake
released enough energy along that fault to ease the threat of more
major quakes there. They are also concerned about another fault line
in the north — the one that caused a 1842 quake that flattened Cap-
Haitien, Haiti's second largest city.
That fault runs from northwestern Haiti to the Dominican Republic and
onto land in the Dominican city of Santiago, the second-largest city
in the Dominican Republic with some 800,000 people.
"It's that fault that's accumulated more strain," said Paul Mann, a
geologist from University of Texas who arrived in Haiti on Monday with
a team to survey coastal uplifting caused by last month's quake.
More than 56 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or greater have shuddered
through Haiti's shattered capital since last month.
On Jan. 26, four people were trapped when a building collapsed on
them, and on Feb. 9, a magnitude-4 aftershock shook loose debris at a
shattered supermarket, trapping several more.