The earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 near the city of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti has overwhelmed the country, and there is now an enormous relief effort underway in this Caribbean Country.  One of the most important things that we can do is to become involved in the welfare of the children and adults that have been devastated by this 7.0 earthquake.  And one way to become involved is to make a monetary donation to charities that are highly rated by the CharityNavigator.org site, an independent, nonprofit organization that evaluates charities.  You can go to their site, and see how funds that they received are used within a specific charity.  You can see a list of some of the charities rated-highest by charitynavigator at this CNN site.

Google maps showing the massive destruction of the buildings in Port-Au-Prince. Cruel and tragic.

We have all seen images and reports from the various news organizations that are reporting from Port-Au-Prince.  The images are heart wrenching and it is during these times that the empathy and caring of others comes to help a country that was dealing with severe health issues, including: HIV/AIDS, inadequate sanitation, contaminated water, illiteracy, poverty, infant and maternal mortality, and malnutrition.

The Haiti region earthquake occurred 15 miles WSW of Port-Au-Prince (18.457°N, 72.533°W) at 4:53 PM.  It occurred in the boundary region separating the Caribbean tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate.  According to the Geological Survey, the quake movement resulted in the Caribbean plate moving eastward relative to the North American plate. You can view maps from the Geological Survey here, and use these to help you develop graphic understandings of what happened in this very active seismic region.

Map of the Port-Au-Prince Area of the Haiti Earthquake

Map of Names and Locations of the Tectonic Plates