Page 161 - Shaking News Today

About. ed, well seen you soon. joining me, william heck of the u.s. geological survey. we talked about the quake being bigger than in 2010. does that necessarily mean more destruction? >> reporter: thats a really good question. we detected it as an earthquake larger in magnitude than we saw in 2010. its about 100 kilometers away from the 2010 earthquake. what we worry about is not just the size of the earthquake but how shallow it is because that controls how much shaking occurred and how close ...

Jamaica. just to the west, and also possibly jamaica. ., , 2, just to the west, and also possibly jamaica. ., ,, ,. , ., , jamaica. could you describe to us wh haiti jamaica. could you describe to us why haiti is _ jamaica. could you describe to us why haiti is susceptible _ jamaica. could you describe to us why haiti is susceptible to - why haiti is susceptible to earthquakes?— why haiti is susceptible to earthquakes? why haiti is susceptible to earthauakes? . , , earthquakes? so, haiti lies ...

One thing to note when you talk about the population that felt the main quake, over a half million people had severe shaking, half million people that felt very strong, and 4 million felt moderate shaking. you can see the damage videos and photos coming in of the structural damage taking place. one key thing to note is that a lot of buildings are sturly compromised. when you get aftershocks, buildings that dont look like they have damage could sustain damage going down because of the aftershocks...

Would have concentrated the strongest shaking in that direction and the tip of the peninsula is relatively sparsely populated. >> so the difference in the quake from 2010, apparently these areas are bit more than 100 kilometers apart. some of your colleagues, and less populated in the sea port town, but some of your colleagues at usgs are estimating the quake could have substantial impact on the populous, could lead to deaths of thousands of people. so based on what data are those estimates bein...

Many different ways. right now were able to estimate the slip along the fault. so we know that theres slip occurring near the surface. the hypocenter of the earthquake was around 12 kilometers or so. but, you know, earthquakes occur globally at all different depths. an earthquake can be deep and felt by a broad number of people but not cause a lot of damage. shallow earthquakes like this usually produce the largest amount of shaking. >> so this would be considered shallow, the 12 kilometers you ...

What other comparisons or contrasts are you able to make? >> so it was centered further west, farther from port-au-prince, and appears to have ruptured towards the west. that sends the energy, focuses it in the direction the fault is actually breaking. so that would have put port-au-prince behind the earthquake, if you will. the shaking in port-au-prince was significantly lower. thats the big difference. >> all right. we are all bracing and hoping for the best possible outcome for the people the...

What we know about it. >> and unfortunately for haiti, they could end up getting hit with both. yes, the 7.2 quake, depth of 10 kilometers or 6 miles. it was a little farther west of the big one in 2010. heres a map to show some perspective. this is port-au-prince. this is where the quake in 2010 occurred. this is the one that happened this morning, a little bit farther west but a little bit stronger. one good thing is that it was farther away from the biggest populated area, but again slightly ...

Experienced strong shaking is on the southern peninsula. it has a lot of vulnerable concrete construction. the question is was shaking as strong as we expect on average in one location, was it maybe slightly lower than average for various reasons. and so the estimates of fatalities are often very wide. no, this was big enough. there are enough people in the area. theres so much vulnerable construction that we are braced for losses. not on the par of 2010. that was a much more direct hit on the c...

Now to breaking news in haiti. at least 227 people have died after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near haiti. were expecting the death toll to climb much higher according to estimates by the u.s. geological survey. officials and rescue crews are racing to assess the damage right now, but these brand new images look devastating. entire buildings turned to rubble, cars crushed. this video showing a building thats completely mangled by the shaking. remember haiti is still dealing with another ma...

Are common, but also because of the prevalence of the construction types and the recovery from the 2010 earthquake itself. so i mean its an immensely devastating event. >> and what about the powerful aftershocks? how long are they expected to continue? i suppose this could continue for days now. >> yeah, thats a great question. since the earthquake this morning, theres been many aftershocks. thats very common after an earthquake like this. theres been at least four earthquakes of magnitude 5 or ...