On this day, Jan 12, 2010, on the West Indian Island of Hispaniola, there was a huge earthquake that would inflict a lot of damage to the island. This earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters on record. At 4:53 pm the earthquake hit had a magnitude of 7.0 and was followed by two aftershocks of 5.5 and 5.9; more aftershocks hit the island several days after. Buildings all over the island collapsed to the ground destroying 97,294 houses.
The earthquake killed over 222,570 people and displaced over 1.3 million people. Over 1 million of these people were left homeless as a result of houses being destroyed. From all this destruction people who were injured were forced to wait multiple days to receive care because hospitals were demolished. A lack of medical supplies and staff caused even more deaths following the earthquake. Many people have come out and shared their stories with the public, “You heard the noise under the ground and its shaking and shaking, and everybody started running,” Florestal, a local, stated. “Houses were falling and falling, all of the fences were falling, people were falling, people were crying.”
As a result of this earthquake it has left many homeless, dead and even missing. To this day there are still children and even pets and parents who are missing and who were pronounced dead.
