Chile Earthquake: With the world still reeling from the news of the 7.0 earthquke in Haiti, recently, news has come out about a magnitude 8.8 earthquake has sruck Chile. Over 100 people were reported dead within the first twelve hours after the earthquake. Chile is no stranger to big earthquakes, (In 1960, it was hit by a 9.5 magnitude quake that caused a tsunami.) but this one in know way will be taken lightly. Many counrtries have been instructed to evacuate the area due to a possible tsunami caused by the quake. The earthquake struck Chile at 3:34 A.M on Friday, February 26th. Two of Chiles largest cities, Santiago (The captial.) and Concepcion both felt the earthquake, as did Buenos Aires. Sources say that that there have been numerous after shocks. Small tsunamis have been recorded near Chile, but nothing major. As of February 28, there have been 708 confirmed deaths due to the quake.
A Pacific wide tsunami warning was issued shortly after the quake. In Japan, 400,000 people were given orders to evacuate the area. Hawaii was also evacuated to a large degree, although not as large as in Japan. When the tsunami did come, in most places it was no bigger then 6 feet. No major damage was done by the tsunami, and people n Hawaii are already back on the beaches just a day after the tsnunami warning is uplifted.
Haiti Earthquake
The epic earthquake in Haiti reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale, and although I previously stated on this website that the Haiti earthquake was the ninth deadliest on record, more people have been confirmed dead since that time, and the Haiti earthquake is now the seventh deadliest earthquake ever recorded with 230,000 people confirmed dead. That number is only the amount of people confirmed dead, and I expect that number to increase since medics on the scene are still searching for survivors which means that they could also find dead bodies under collapsed buildings. The legendary 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami killed 230,210 people and is ranked the fifth deadliest earthquake in history, with a death toll 210 fatalities greater then the confirmed current Haiti Earthquake toll. Haiti's earthquake will could possibly pass the Indian Ocean eartquake/tsunami and become the fifth deadliest earthquake in history. For more information on how earthquake and other disasters stack up in terms of amount of people killed, click on this link to a Wikipedia site and scroll down to the list of deadliest earthquakes.
Most of the deaths from the earthquake were recorded in Port-Au-Prince, the capital and most populated city in Haiti, but the earthquake also affected the Haitian cities of Leogane, Petit Goave, and Jacmal. There have been many rescue teams rushed to the scene. Many of the Haitians who have lost their homes are currently living in tents as I write this. There are many ways that people can help the people in Haiti, such as the fundraiser at Henkle Middle School. (See below) Even before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and had there have been no help from other countries, as there has been, then the situation would have been close to hopeless.
Here at Henkle, we are having a "Change For Haiti" fundraiser. You can donate money either toward your connections group earning an ice cream party, (If they raise more money then all the other connections groups.) or you could donate your money toward a school event such as taping two of our teachers to the gym wall, or a silly string fight between the teachers, among other events. Currently, tapping two of the teachers to the gym wall has raised the most money. In addition to those events, if we raise enough money to reach our school goal, Mr. George will shave his beard and hair.
UPDATE: Henkle Middle School has now reached it's fundraiser goal for the Haiti Earthquake. Mr. George's hair and beard will be shaved!
UPDATE 2: On 2-25-10, Bryan Schmid shaved Princible Rich George's hair at lunch. Our princible is now completly bald.
Works Cited
"Chile quake death toll jumps to 708." MSNBC. 28 Feb 2010. MSN, Web. 28 Feb 2010. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35615455/ns/world_news-chile_earthquake//.
Wikipedia contributors. "2010 Chile earthquake." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.
Wikipedia contributors. "2010 Haiti earthquake." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.
Wikipedia contributors. "List of natural disasters." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2010
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