A day has passed since a 7.0 earthquake—the strongest in 200 years—struck the island nation of Haiti. Aftershocks continue, the numbers of dead and injured people continue to climb. Following, some links to stories, sources for information, and ways to assist.
• Video above: on the Rachel Maddow Show, the Haitian ambassador to the United States responds to Pat Robertson's revolting, racist comments about the disaster (blogged here on BB by Maggie earlier today, and covered also by Ms. Maddow here).
• Follow Richard Morse for live tweets from the ground in Haiti. One read, "If your home is
destroyed and your workplace is destroyed and your neighborhood is
destroyed… then what?"
• "In a country where traditional landline service is almost non-existent, more than a million Haitians rely on the mobile service Voilà for communications." That service is run by a Bellevue, Washington-based technology company. Mobile communications are a vital link in aid coordination as the disaster continues to unfold.
• This happens every time there is a disaster of this scale: scam artists prey on people struck by the impulse to help with money donations. ABC News, BBB, FBI.
After the jump, video from CBS News which is said to show buildings collapsing during the 7.0 quake, which lasted about 30 seconds and was followed by many aftershocks, some as strong as 5.9.
• Boing Boing reader Ryan points to haitianquake.com and says,
I'm writing on behalf of the small coalition of web developers here in New York and beyond that are working diligently (and swiftly) to create a working and dynamic database to record all information about missing persons in Haiti. Considering the tools to do this right now are scattered across multiple platforms, without a unifying structure, we thought this was the best way to be helpful. We want people to be able to submit information, as well as to search for information on those they are concerned about.
• This article by Ferentz Lafargue, a writer of Haitian origin, includes suggestions on aid groups doing good work there, in response to the immediate crisis and beyond. Brian Spears at The Rumpus has another roundup of aid groups. And The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund is another the smaller, independent, grassroots group that comes highly recommended by folks I know who are familiar with development work in Haiti. More on the text-message Red Cross fundraising efforts here.
• A number of American companies have pledged millions in aid money.
• Simon Romero, reporting from Port-au-Prince in the NYT:
"Please save my baby!" Jeudy Francia, a woman in her 20s, shrieked outside the St.-Esprit Hospital in the city. Her child, a girl about 4 years old, writhed in pain in the hospital's chaotic courtyard, near where a handful of corpses lay under white blankets. "There is no one, nothing, no medicines, no explanations for why my daughter is going to die."
• Photographer Daniel Morel is in Haiti. If you can stomach it, you can view his images on Corbisimages.com.
• News coverage: Guardian, NOLA.com, Democracy Now, Miami Herald.
