Day by day: Earthquake aftermath in Haiti

 

TUESDAY, JAN. 12

Haiti
A man carries an injured child outside Hotel Villa Creole in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday. AP
Watch a video shot during the earthquake

4:53 p.m.: A killer quake of magnitude 7.0 strikes 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, causing untold deaths, collapsing thousands of buildings, severing roads, putting the city's main seaport out of operation, crippling the city. A tsunami warning is issued, later canceled.

By nightfall: fires dot a landscape darkened by the loss of electricity; local hospitals are damaged, overwhelmed; the injured can be heard screaming in the rubble; residents claw at it with bare hands trying to rescue those trapped.

In Port-au-Prince: The U.N. peacekeepers' headquarters collapses, with hundreds missing; Red Cross, Salvation Army and other aid organizations spend their first hours looking for their own workers.

About 10 p.m.: One final commercial flight from Port-au-Prince arrives at Miami International Airport, with relieved but worried passengers.

Top stories

Haiti quake new blow for country mired in misery

Haiti quake happened along fault line, experts say

Multimedia

Graphic | Previous disasters in Haiti

Video | Miami prays for Haiti

Video | Haitian-American author describes personal grief ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WEDNESDAY, JAN. 13

Haiti
A man carries a body discovered under the rubble, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday. PATRICK FARRELL
Click here to view more photos shot on Wednesday

Daybreak: Rescuers claw frantically through rubble; find Port-au-Prince's Catholic Archbishop, Joseph Serge Miot, dead in his office at the cathedral. President René Préval, who escaped collapse of Haitian National Palace, describes stepping over bodies of those killed.

President Barack Obama pledges aid for ``this especially cruel and incomprehensible'' tragedy. He temporarily suspends deporting undocumented Haitians. Thirty-one nations, including China, have aid on its way to Haiti -- including body bags.

U.N. peacekeepers crisscross Port-au-Prince's main Toussaint L'Overture International Airport runway in armored vehicles to keep order.

A team of doctors from the University of Miami/Jackson Hospital arrives to treat injured, part of U.S.-Haiti Operation Medishare; it flies back a few hours later carrying several Haitian residents gravely injured by the quake.

As darkness falls in Port-au-Prince, shantytowns spring up in every open space, including the manicured lawn of the crumbled Haitian National Palace; homeless erect cloth and cardboard shanties on the soccer field at Stadium Sylvio Cator; people afraid of buildings sleep in cars, on open ground.

Top stories

Haiti president describes 'unimaginable' catastrophe; thousands feared dead

President Obama's remarks about Haitian earthquake

Supplies begin to arrive in Haiti as aftershocks shake stunned nation

Haiti's president thankful for incoming aid

16 UN personnel killed, 150 missing in Haiti

Damage to Haiti's main port complicates rescue

Multimedia

Video | Aerial shots of the devastation in Haiti

Video | UM medical team helps in Haiti

Video | World Editor talks about Miami Herald Staff news from Haiti

Photos | Haiti after the earthquake

Read more Haiti stories from the Miami Herald

Miami Herald

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category