From Denny: On the Richter scale this earthquake was a hugely powerful "7." What does that mean in explosive power of Mother Nature? Try 35 times more powerful than one atom bomb. The quake lasted a long full minute when most quakes last only a few seconds. This is why there is so much devastation.
There is a long lateral fault that runs through Haiti and scientists had warned the country they were at risk for a huge earthquake. It has been 200 years since the country experienced this scale of disaster and this type of magnitude quake tends to run in 200 - 250 year cycles according to geologists.
This one shows diagrams of the underlying seismic plates and how they interacted along the fault line of about 40 miles running laterally through the country to create so much damage.
From CBS: About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes strike inside the "ring of fire," which is a 25,000 mile stretch of ocean trenches and volcanoes. Haiti's earthquake was rare, but expected.
*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!
From Denny: The outpouring of donations worldwide for the relief of suffering in Haiti following a 7.0 devastating earthquake is incredible. The following are a list of 67 well-known established charities to which you can donate safely.
The Mobile Giving Foundation has received over $30 million in text pledges from cell phone donors the past two weeks. Even the Pew Research Center was well impressed and threw out some statistics:
14% donated by text message 12% donated by phone 23% donated via the web 5% donated via email 39% donated in person via a church or other group
Here's something I doubt any of us thought about when we donated by text message or phone: how long will it take for the phone companies to send out that donation? Turns out it can take from 30, even up to 60 days to transfer customers' contributions, which is then added to the mobile phone bills.
The biggest carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have all decided to expedite those donations.
Here's each company's status:
Verizon Wireless: Last Friday, 22 January, they transferred $2.98 million. Today, 28 January, they transferred $4.84 million. Jeffrey Nelson declared the campaign "the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far. In all of 2009, all mobile giving (via texting) to all charities totaled just under $4 million for the year."
AT&T: Donations are up to $10 million. The company says they will "advance payment of verified texted donations" to the Red Cross.
Sprint: Donations so far are $3.1 million. By Friday, 29 January, they will advance 80% of the donations with the remaining 20% placed into the usual 30 to 90 day settlement cycle.
T-Mobile: They are working hard to expedite on a weekly basis.
"HAITI" 90999 American Red Cross $10 "QUAKE" 20222 Clinton Bush Haiti Fund $10 "GIVE" 25383 MTV telethon $10 "HAITI" 25383 International Rescue Committee $5 "HAITI" 85944 International Medical Corps $10
"YELE" 501501 Yele Haiti foundation $5 "HAITI" 52000 The Salvation Army $10 "HOPE10" or "UNICEF" 20222 UNICEF $10 "HABITAT" 25383 Habitat for Humanity $10 "OXFAM" 25383 Oxfam America, Inc $10
"HAITI" 40579 National Religious Broadcasters $10 "SAVE" or "SAFE" 20222 Save the Children Federation $10 "GIVE" or "WORLD" 20222 World Vision, Inc $10 "CARE" 24383 CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc) $10 "AJWS" 25383 American Jewish World Service $10
*** THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS - even the smallest amount delivers a huge impact!
*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big thank you and shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!
From Denny: A few years before the disaster struck in Haiti, American Brad Johnson decided to move there and help the people in his parents' ongoing Christian mission to Haiti. He was in a unique position to help after the earthquake as he already had an established school, an orphanage and a medical clinic operating, along with plenty of supplies. His mission is just outside of Port-au-Prince. He is busy distributing supplies to survivors and has been within hours of when the disaster hit.
*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, a big shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!
