"The Chinese search and rescue team has already arrived at the airport at eastern Port-au-Prince. I believe two US teams will arrive this afternoon and perhaps two more, tomorrow hopefully with ,uh, heavy equipment as well as experts and dogs and so on. Others are on the way from many countries. So, that kind of help is beginning to arrive at the cottages desperately need it and as you all aware, every hour counts in this kind of situation when people are trapped under the rubble in desperate need of being rescued."
Scientists say the earthquake in Haiti has had a particularly severe effect because most people weren't expecting it. There has been no significant earthquake there for more than 200 years. Our science reporter Matt Mcgrath looks at the factors that have caused such devastation.
There are three elements to this earthquake that in combination explained its deadly nature. First is the power. A magnitude 7 is equivalent to the energy given off by half a million tons of high explosives. The second is the location, just 10 kilometers beneath the earth and very near the capital city. Closeness to the surface is a key factor contributing to the severity of the ground shaking caused by a tremor. The final factor is the lack of awareness among the population and the government about the possibility of an earthquake given that has been so long since the last major one.
Matt Mcgrath reporting
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