Haiti Earthquake Death Toll: Close To 50,000 People

by Yuliya Talmazan | January 14, 2010 at 10:23 am

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Haiti earthquake death toll remains anyone's guess as bodies are still lying in the streets. However, today Haitian Red Cross estimated up to 50,000 people could be dead and another three million hurt or displaced.

Haiti earthquake death toll was believed to be in the tens of thousands. However, it seems to be too early to tell as many bodies are still lying out in the streets. CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta Tweeted from the ground in Haiti today, saying he has never seen what he saw in Haiti.

...it seems somewhat hopeless. bodies still in the streets

Meanwhile, Haitian Red Cross believes between 45,000 and 50,000 people have been killed. It also estimates that three million people have been either hurt or left homeless as the result of the earthquake. There were reports of a thousand bodies lying outside Port-au-Prince General Hospital.

The highest death toll from a natural disaster in recent history is that from the 1931 China floods that have killed close to four million people.

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Uwe Paschen

at 19:37 on January 14th, 2010

The May 12, 2008, earthquake of a 7.9-magnitude in Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China, killed about 70,000 people and left over 18,000 missing. Over 15 million people lived in the affected area, including almost 4 million in the city of Chengdu.

Then we had the 2004 Tsunami caused by a 9.0 in magnitude earthquake of Sumatra wish claimed over 150,000 lives in several countries that where hit by this Tsunami, whose energy or force was equivalent to 23,000 Hiroshima-type Atom bombs.

We also had the Great Hanshin earthquake (阪神・淡路大震災 Hanshin-Awaji Daishinsai), or Kobe earthquake as it is more commonly known outside Japan, this was an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.2 and caused over 6,250 casualties in a country that is well prepared for earthquakes and has to deal with them on a daily base.

Then there was the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed 140,000 lives. It caused approximately ten trillion yen in damage, 2.5% of Japan's GDP at the time. Based on the average currency conversion rate over the following 500 days of 97.545 yen per USD, the quake caused $102.5 billion in damages.

SaintlyMic

at 18:24 on January 14th, 2010

This is very sad.
I'm praying for all of you who are suffering because of this horrible earthquake.
I want you to know that Jesus did NOT do this to you, but this happened because your culture and way of life is just like New Orleans in the USA.
New Orleans paid a heavy price for supporting satanic ways of life in order to make a profit.

As for those of you who are witches and voodoo witchdoctors ...
I guess your magic didn't help you now, did it?
You should realize this and place all your faith in Jesus Christ to help you and deliver you from a sudden destruction worse than what has come upon you!

Trust in Jesus Christ now and He will give you ETERNAL LIFE!
If I personally had the money I would send a huge shipment of supplies to give to you to help you to show you I love you.
All I can give you is to pray to Jesus Christ for your deliverance from being without those things you need to live!
I'm also praying that if you lost a loved one that your heart is comforted by Jesus Christ's Holy Spirit!
To lose someone you love due to a disaster of any kind is very heartbreaking indeed!

SaintlyMic

Hosanna (not verified)

at 12:04 on January 15th, 2010

First let me start off by saying, I am a Christian woman. I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe he is my savior. But luckily, I have been blessed to go to college. And there, I have had the amazing opportunity to study the different religions of the world. As a disclaimer, I have not wavered in my faith through the enlightenment of my studies, but I have become stronger in my faith, realizing that what I believe is is actually what is in my heart. After studying African religions, I learned much about Voodoo, which is used synonmously with "black magic" here in the United States. Before you go condemning over 3 million people to not believing in God and being witches/witchdoctors, educate yourself first! Why don't you look into what they actually believe, and maybe you will start to see more similiarites than differences. I do not practice Voodoo, nor do I believe in it. But I do know that Voodoo is used for love and healing, and if it is not, than it is not Voodoo. You cannot believe everything that your media tells you--that it's witchcraft, cannibalism, zombies, evil, the devil, etc. Voodoo is an African based religion. And just like everything else African, it comes under heavy scrutiny here in the United States. Please thing about the loved ones of the deceased as you make your judgmental comments. How would you feel? And in closing, Haiti was the only slave colony to revolt--becoming independent and free of the reigns that France once imposed on this country. And many contribute the success of that revolt to Voodoo. So it's ironic how a religion can be looked upon as the solution or the problem, depending on the lenses you're looking through. I pray for Haiti and it's people.

t k kidwai

at 19:51 on January 14th, 2010

Saitlymic's comments remind me of what I read about Earthquake followed by Tsunami in 1755 in Lisbon.About 100,000 persons lost lives,scale of destruction could not be gauged,so vast it was.The clergy blamed heretics for the devastation and held them responsible because they incurred wrath of God which reulted in earthquake and Tsunami.They started looking for sinners who were responsible for this natural calamity,identified 250 and executed them.

Are we still living in Dark Ages?When Tsunami struck India,a debate was initiated as to whether God is merciful or cruel.It was a futile excersise in my opinion and to blame a handful of sinners,those who have deviated from Christ' path or God's path,can make none so angry that millions and millions suffer for sins committed by few.

alanator (not verified)

at 20:35 on January 14th, 2010

You are saying that this is a very bad incident. Indeed this is sad, but did you know in the year 2008, China has 80000 casualties in a single earthquake? Did you know in 1976, China has lost 200000 people in earthquake?no offence, but just consider the difference. also please to not use this as a event to propaganda your religion?

snuffysmith

at 20:44 on January 14th, 2010

Brazil offers to build Voodoo cemetery for Haiti quake dead
Brasilia (AFP) Jan 14, 2010 - Brazil is offering to build a cemetery in Haiti for the thousands killed in this week's quake, and promising it will respect the Voodoo beliefs of part of the Caribbean country's population, officials said Thursday. The proposal stemmed from the "great concern over the presence of abandoned bodies in the streets, which could create epidemics," the defense ministry said in a statement. ... more

snuffysmith

at 06:07 on January 15th, 2010

Things to Remember While Helping Haiti - Jim Roberts, The Foundry, Heritage.org: “[T]he U.S. must be prepared to insist that the Haiti government work closely with the U.S. to insure that corruption does not infect the humanitarian assistance flowing to Haiti. Long-term reforms for Haitian democracy and its economy are also badly overdue.

Congress should immediately begin work on a package of assistance, trade, and reconstruction efforts needed to put Haiti on its feet and open the way for deep and lasting democratic reforms. The U.S. should implement a strong and vigorous public diplomacy effort to counter the negative propaganda certain to emanate from the Castro-Chavez camp. Such an effort will also demonstrate that the U.S.’s involvement in the Caribbean remains a powerful force for good in the Americas and around the globe.” See also. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Reach Out to Haiti Earthquake Victims.

I post this because there are rumors afoot that the Haitian military are receiving all of the aid prior to distribution to the populace.

t k kidwai

at 09:07 on January 15th, 2010

US imperialists would have announced reconstruction pacakge if Haiti had energy reserves.US imperialists would have carried out bigger disaster than this earthquake if geo-political interests of the empire and greed of corporate houses were involved.

NightRunner417 (not verified)

at 13:34 on January 18th, 2010

I don't normally get into debates of a hopeless, endless nature like what is now going on in terms of why did Haiti somehow deserve what happened to her, but I just can't help it here and I have to say something. It's just this: ANYONE that tries to pull God into this natural thing, INEVITABLE thing (Haiti is on a damned fault line!), lowers God to a reckless, violent, heartless, teenage gangster status with no morals, no remorse, no empathy, and no conscience. Ask yourself, would YOU have done such a terrible thing to an entire people, good, bad, young, old, male, female, etc, for no better reason than x percent of the population is corrupt or has a certain belief system? If yes, then get off my planet, now please. If no, then how DARE you transfer such cruelty of spirit to a being that if indeed does exist, is so very far beyond all of us as to be absolutely incapable of such typical HUMAN traits as we find in the darkest of places on this Earth. What is the matter with you people?! Didn't you stop to think that God would be REELING right now from the pain of millions of His *children*? You try to blame this on a people following "satanic ways", and in so doing you make God into a cruel whipmaster that quite honestly makes Satan look like a saint by comparison! Do us all a favor and DO NOT SPEAK FOR GOD, because you have no clue what is in His heart, for you have none of your own by which to understand it.

Jojo8 (not verified)

at 20:16 on January 22nd, 2010

For those US citizens who are relieved that Haiti is far away and remote and foreign and separated from us by a vast expanse of water and is inhabited by those who are not like us..... remember that Los Angeles lies on a fault line, too. Our time may come. Nevermore, Nevermore....

kattie (not verified)

at 13:38 on January 27th, 2010

i understand that usa is trying to hep haiti but they should remember that they were the one that took haiti's gold, dimand and everything haiti had know they thing they can help the don't worry god know everything and so lets wait in see what happen and japan is the only country i trust in haiti they are my favorite country in the world that god made.