Another disturbed night

At around 1.30 this morning another sizeable aftershock hit Port-au-Prince: according to the USGA it measured only 4.7 on the scale, but it was only around 10 miles offshore, so the effect was very noticeable in the city. Our guesthouse was immediately awake, and we switched off all electricity in case of gas leaks which might have caused a hazard, until we could evaluate in daylight. We were considering whether to move into a more open area (safe from falling buildings) when another shock hit around 10 minutes later. Three of my colleagues chose to move into tents in the garden of our guesthouse, I and another stayed in the house: I felt that if this building had withstood the initial earthquake and several aftershocks already (we had a thorough inspection before we moved in), it would be safe to remain.

Driving around this morning to make a very quick inspection it is clear that some additional damage has been done, but the building most vulnerable already collapsed in the initial wave, so most damage now was to buildings already compromised. The bigger worry is the mood of the people who are swinging between great fear and anger at the government, who are blamed for not achieving more to date. Of course miracles do not happen, and much has been achieved to date, but for people who have suffered so much the need to blame someone is huge. Yesterday there was a near riot when some US aid workers tried to take 6 Haitian children out of the country - legitimately and with papers signed by President Preval himself: the crowd went wild and assaulted the group, accusing them of stealing Haitian children. The children were kept "safely" by the Haitian government and the aid workers taken into protective custody, although released later. I understand they were able to leave today with the children, but the incident highlights the fragile peace which exists at present. During a meeting today one of our Haitian staff started screaming, panicked by the close passing of a very heavy truck. Perhaps not so surprising given all she has lived through.