Between 45,000 and 50,000 people are feared dead and 3 million people may have been injured or lost their homes, the International Federation of the Red Cross reports, from a powerful earthquake and aftershocks that hit the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has urged "all members of the international community to come to Haiti's aid in this hour need." Japan and all other nations must do all they can to help the people of Haiti.
In the aftermath of the powerful quakes, Haiti badly needs food, water, medicine and doctors. The World Bank will provide $100 million relief money. The United States has also pledged $100 million. Japan will extend ¥30 million worth of emergency aid supplies and up to $5 million in grants to the country. Some Japanese firms have decided to offer help in the form of money and supplies. Relief teams from many countries including the U.S., China, France and Iceland have arrived but their work faces great obstacles.
Haiti sits on the area where the Caribbean plate and the North American plate meet. A magnitude-7 quake struck at 4:53 p.m. Tuesday local time, followed by a series of aftershocks. The Japanese Meteorological Agency says the initial quake was centered 15 km southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, and only 10 km deep.