Earthquake facts & figures

The 7.0-magnitude quake struck close to the Haitian capital Port au Prince on January 12th 2010 at 16.53 local time (2153 GMT).

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, greatly increasing the risk that people will suffer or die in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Up to three million people live in the area worst hit by the quake, which centred 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The latest estimated death toll issued by the Government of Haiti stands at 230,000 people.

Between 2,500 and 4,600 schools were affected by the earthquake, according to an initial audit by the Ministry of Education.

Hospitals and clinics were destroyed. Those that were left were overcrowded, understaffed and rapidly ran out of drugs and equipment.

The collapse of the healthcare system left the lives of thousands of expectant mothers and the lives of their unborn babies at risk, with women having to deliver their babies in emergency camps. Around 37,000 pregnant women live in the region; at least 10,000 of them will need delivery services in the coming months and aid agencies expect that 1,500 will need care for life-threatening complications during delivery.

The earthquake destroyed government buildings, cutting power and telephone lines and blocking roads. The United Nations headquarters collapsed, killing and injuring scores of people.

Thousands of families including parents and children were separated in the chaos. Within a week of the disaster, more than 22,000 people had registered on the International Committee of the Red Cross’s special website, www.icrc.org/familylinks, activated on 14 January to help people searching for loved ones.

Damage to the single runway airport (including the airport traffic control tower), Port-au-Prince seaport and roads hampered the international relief effort in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Other logistical challenges following the disaster included the vast number of people needing help and the loss of life and injury amongst the co-ordinating authorities in the Haitian Government, the UN and aid agencies already operating in Haiti.

Despite the logistical challenges, the survivors’ urgent needs for medical care, food and water were increasingly met during the weeks after the quake.

During February 2010, US air traffic controllers began working with their Haitian counterparts to provide some degree of normalcy at the airport.

One month on, UK members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and their partners have played an important role in establishing 59 hospitals, supported the delivery of a two week dry food ration to 1.1 million people through the UN World Food Programme and were among the agencies helping to provide clean water to more than 750,000 people a day.

The need for more emergency shelter, and latrines to prevent the spread of diseases, remain urgent priorities.