Haiti in ruins after huge earthquake

Television pictures are slowly beginning to show how great the damage is in Haiti following the huge earthquake on Tuesday. A magnitude 7.3 quake, just 16km from the capital, hit the Caribbean nation as people were going home after work. It was the worst earthquake to strike Haiti in more than two centuries. Much of the country has been devastated. Many major buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince have collapsed, including the Presidential Palace and the UN headquarters. Haiti's President Rene Preval described the scene in the capital as "unimaginable". The Red Cross says up to 3 million people have been affected.

Mr. Preval fears “well over 100,000 people” may have died.

Haiti's ambassador to the USA, Raymond Joseph, said there was "no way of estimating" how many casualties there were. Countries around the world are acting quickly to send whatever help they can to Haiti. US President Barack Obama has promised America will do all it can to help. He vowed "unwavering support" following a “particularly cruel” disaster. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. More than half its people live below the poverty line on less than two dollars a day. It is one of the poorest equipped countries on Earth to deal with such a catastrophe. The nation was still trying to recover from being hit by four deadly hurricanes in 30 days in 2008. Its economy is in ruins and it has a long history of corruption and coups.

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