Aftershock hits Haiti

A second earthquake hit Haiti today shaking buildings and sending frightened people running into the streets.

The preliminary 6.0 magnitude quake hit at 6.03am local time about 35 miles north-west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 13.7 miles.

The pacific tsunami warning centre said the earthquake was located too far inland to generate any tidal waves in the Caribbean.

Wails of terror rose from frightened survivors of the apocalyptic quake that struck eight days ago as people as people poured out of unstable buildings.

Last week’s magnitude-7 quake killed an estimated 200,000 people, left 250,000 injured and made 1.5 million homeless. A massive international aid effort has been launched, but is struggling with overwhelming logistical problems.

Search-and-rescue teams have emerged from the ruins with some improbable success stories – including the rescue of 69-year-old Roman Catholic who said she prayed constantly during her week under the rubble.

Ena Zizi had been at a church meeting at the residence of Haiti’s Roman Catholic archbishop when the January 12 quake struck, trapping her in debris. Yesterday, she was rescued by a Mexican disaster team.

Mrs Zizi said that after the quake, she spoke with a vicar who also was trapped. But after a few days, he fell silent, and she spent the rest of the time praying and waiting.

“I talked only to my boss, God,” she said. “And I didn’t need any more humans.”

Doctors said she was dehydrated and had a dislocated hip and a broken leg.

Elsewhere in the capital, two women were pulled from a destroyed university building. And near midnight a smiling and singing 26-year-old Lozama Hotteline was carried to safety from a collapsed store in the Petionville area by the French aid group Rescuers Without Borders.

Teams at the cathedral compound site managed to find the body of the archbishop, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot.

Close to 100 people had been pulled from wrecked buildings by international search-and-rescue teams. Efforts continued, with dozens of teams sifting through Port-au-Prince’s crumbled homes and buildings for signs of life.

But the good news was overshadowed by the frustrating fact that the world still cannot get enough food and water to the hungry and thirsty.

The World Food Programme said more than 250,000 ready-to-eat food rations had been distributed in Haiti by yesterday, reaching only a fraction of the three million people thought to be in desperate need.

The WFP said it needs to deliver 100 million rations in the next 30 days. Based on pledges from the United States, Italy and Denmark, it has 16 million in the pipeline.

Hanging over the entire effort was an overwhelming fear among relief officials that Haitians’ desperation would boil over into violence.

“We’ve very concerned about the level of security we need around our people when we’re doing distributions,” said Graham Tardif, who heads disaster-relief efforts for the charity World Vision. The UN, the US government and other organisations echoed his fears.