Friday, January 6, 2012

ARTICLE - EARTHQUAKE STILL TRAUMATIZING

JANUARY 12 EARTHQUAKE STILL TRAUMATIZING FOR HAITIANS
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Some Haitians say they are still traumatized as the second anniversary of the earthquake of January 2010 approaches.

The disaster that killed an estimated 250,000 people, particularly in Port-au-Prinse and surrounding areas, has for many worsened, because authorities have not taken any measures to limit the damage if another disaster were to strike the country, reports the Agence Haitienne de Press (AHP).

People denounce the fact that unregulated construction still continues as if nothing had happened. And in most cases, people are rebuilding in the same place where their houses were destroyed by the earthquake.

"They are rebuilding in the same places and with bad materials recovered from the rubble, without being hindered by the authorities, who are unable to offer them better," complained a young engineer.

"We, who have lost family, friends and the fruit of a lifetime of work, we who have spent days and nights under the rubble, we can’t forget that date, Agnes Pierre said with her eyes full of tears. She lost her husband and three of her four children. Like others, she fears the second anniversary of the earthquake.

For his part, the Director of the Bureau of Mines and Energy, engineer Dieuseul Anglade, stated that there is no causal relationship between a given date and an earthquake.

"This is a random phenomenon in the sense that the earthquake could have occurred before or after January 12," he said.

Engineer Anglade has welcomed some progress in building safety, but believes that the biggest step lies ahead. "It is necessary to undertake an intensive campaign on behavior to adopt in case of an earthquake," he advised.

The Bureau of Mines and Energy will inaugurate on January 12, 2012 a data center, announced Dieuseul Anglade; evoking the need for micro seismic zoning. Finally, he welcomes that the country will soon have a network of seismic monitoring.

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