How many square miles of Haiti did the earthquake destroy?

[LauraAnn630]

How many square miles of Haiti did the earthquake destroy? Would it be like the size of one of the states or more? We are just trying to understand.
I cant wrap my brain around it.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't know about the size of the affected area, but the entire country of Haiti is only about the size of Maryland to begin with so the geographical area probably isn't all that large. It is the population density in the affected area that made it such a large-scale disaster.

 

[minkydog]

I don't know the square miles, but the earthquake leveled their capital city which was heavily populated largely with people who live very poor, marginal lives. They didn't have much to start with and now they have nothing, not even their families. That has to be a crushing blow to a people who value family over just about everything.

I heard someone comparing this with the Tsunami the other day and I thought, "Yeah and that was really terrible, but most of the people in that event were either alive or dead. In Haiti, they're crushed, mangled,burned, torn, buried alive, or, oh yeah, dead." It's just too horrible.

 

[abdmom]

The USGS has a map here. The affected area looks like about 120 km x 40 km = 4800 km or roughly 1600 sq. miles. Home to about 3.5 million people. Roughly the size of Delaware with the population of the city of Los Angeles.

 

[MrsSpratt]

The thing to remember is that Haiti has been in turmoil for 200 years; it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, I believe (someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong!) A percentage of Haitian children are "given" to wealthier families (and by wealthier, I mean they eat often - certainly not American standards of wealth!) on a regular basis.

Haiti seemed to be turning around in the last 2-5 years; that is one of the reasons this is so devastating.

So....imagine Hurricane Katrina, except no one had the warning to leave, and no one had any supplies to see them through any sort of disaster - they don't have "supplies" most of the time, anyway. Then imagine 100,000 dead bodies to bury. With no real tools.

It is really hard to wrap our heads around it - it is a terrible, terrible thing. Send your prayers!

 

[minkydog]

Then imagine 100,000 dead bodies to bury. With no real tools.

It is really hard to wrap our heads around it - it is a terrible, terrible thing. Send your prayers!

I can't seem to get past the fact that there are still people ALIVE in all that wreckage and nobody knows where the are. I can't imagine being trapped, surrounded by concrete and dead people, and NOBODY knows I'm down there. The stuff of your worst nightmares...

 

[teacherlisa1978]

I can't seem to get past the fact that there are still people ALIVE in all that wreckage and nobody knows where the are. I can't imagine being trapped, surrounded by concrete and dead people, and NOBODY knows I'm down there. The stuff of your worst nightmares...

Exactly. To be alive, probably barely, in a collapsed building for 10 days praying for rescue...truly a tragedy of epic proportions...unbelievable that they have still found survivors in the wreckage after this long. I can only imagine what that experience was like.

 

[Silent1CB]

Did they find anyone alive Friday? I didn't get to see the news. I know they found some alive Thursday.

Its sad that some of the rescue teams have given up & returned home though.

 

[KathyTX]

The thing to remember is that Haiti has been in turmoil for 200 years; it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, I believe (someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong!)

You're correct. It's by far the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.