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haiti earthquake first medical responders
Photograph by Frederic Dupoux, Getty Images
Haitians help a wounded child on January 12 in the capital, Port-au-Prince (Haiti map), which was completely devastated by a magnitude 7 earthquake.
The Haiti earthquake toppled buildings, including the president's National Palace, a hospital, and schools, trapping untold numbers in the debris and killing perhaps thousands of others.
After the Haiti earthquake, witnesses described "general mayhem" in the impoverished Caribbean city, which has no electricity, phone service, or passable roads, the New York Times reported.
"We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous," observer Kristie van de Wetering told the Times.
As the dust settles following the Haiti earthquake, experts expect "catastrophic" damage and loss of life, the newspaper said. A third of Haiti's nine million people may need emergency aid, according to the International Red Cross.
January 13, 2010
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Injured Haiti Quake Victim
Photograph by Frederic Dupoux, Getty Images
A man with two broken legs awaits help in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 13, the day after a massive earthquake rocked the poor Caribbean nation. (Also see: "Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk.")
Hospitals are already packed, and thousands more are buried under the rubble—a "truly heart-wrenching" scene, U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday.
The U.S., as well as countries from Iceland to Venezuela, plans to send emergency-response teams as soon as possible, the Associated Press reported.
Port-au-Prince's main airport was "fully operational" after the Haiti earthquake and open to relief flights, the UN told the AP Tuesday.
January 13, 2010
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Young Haiti Earthquake Victim
Photograph by Eduardo Munoz, Reuters
An injured child receives medical treatment after the Haiti earthquake in Port-au-Prince on January 13, 2010.
Elsewhere in Port-au-Prince, a pediatric nurse working in an orphanage described trying to save children during the Haiti earthquake.
"Objects were falling from shelves, there was debris crashing all around," Susan Westwood told BBC News. "I clung on to the babies and shielded them as best I could."
January 13, 2010
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Earthquake-Ravaged Buildings
Photograph from AFP/Getty Images
In a picture obtained from the microblogging site Twitter, earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, scramble amid fresh rubble after Monday evening's devastating temblor.
With electricity and phone services currently offline in Haiti on January 13, Twitter is one of the few avenues for information and pictures traveling in and out of the Caribbean island country, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
January 13, 2010
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Haiti Victims Sleep in Streets
Photograph by Eduardo Munoz, Reuters
Haiti earthquake victims sleep in the streets of Port-au-Prince in the predawn hours of Wednesday, January 13, 2009. The January 12 earthquake's effects are being felt in every strata of Haitian society, from the capital's shantytowns to the presidential palace, which partially collapsed.
"Parliament has collapsed," Haitian President René Préval told the Miami Herald. "The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.
"All of the hospitals are packed with people," he added. "It is a catastrophe."
January 13, 2010
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