Many feared dead in Haiti quake - Page last updated at 03:19 GMT, Wednesday, 13 January 2010 (click title to entry - thank you)

Haiti Earthquake "Strange," Strongest in 200 Years (click here)

Ker Than

for National Geographic News

January 13, 2010

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday is the strongest earthquake to hit the region in more than two centuries, geologists say.

Haiti lies along the Caribbean Plate and North America Plate.  The quake occurred at the southern and eastern end of the island.  The Caribbean Plate does not have enough mass in that region to slip this far by itself.  The only feasible way to have this occur is if there was a huge nudge by the North American Plate. 

Getting the picture yet?  No?

Crush Syndrome: Saving More Lives in Disasters (click here)

Lessons Learned From the Early-Response Phase in Haiti
 
Carmi Bartal, MD, MPH; Lior Zeller, MD; Ian Miskin, MD; Gilbert Sebbag, MD; Erez Karp, MD; Alon Grossman, MD; Anat Engel, MD, MHA; Dan Carter, MD; Yitshak Kreiss, MD, MHA, MPA
Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(7):694-696. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.122

INTRODUCTION The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps Field Hospital was fully operational 89 hours after the Haiti earthquake in January 2010. In earthquake scenarios, crush injuries are a major cause of death. The incidence of crush syndrome can be as high as 25% in earthquake victims. Acute renal failure (ARF), a complication of crush syndrome that is commonly encountered in the first days following earthquakes, has an excellent outcome when renal replacement treatment (RRT) is available.¹ The incidence of ARF related to crush syndrome depends on the intensity of the earthquake and the amount of time spent under rubble, and ranges from 0.5% to 25%. More than half of those with renal failure will require RRT.²