Aftershock rattles Haiti

Untitled Document

The 5.9 aftershock hit at daybreak. Shrieking Haitians ran from buildings and
walls, fearing a repeat of the magnitude 7 quake that killed tens of thousands
of people eight days ago. Hole digger Though the strongest shock since January 12, it did not appear to cause any
major new destruction or to slow the international relief effort now bolstered
by more U.S. troops.

"Things started shaking. We were really afraid. People came out into the
street," said Victor Jean Rossiny, a law student living in the street. "We have
nothing here, not even water."

Desperate and hungry residents of Port-au-Prince have been sleeping outdoors
because their homes were destroyed last week or out of fear aftershocks would
bring down more buildings.

Violence and looting has subsided as U.S. troops provided security for water
and food distribution, and thousands of displaced Haitians heeded the
government's advice to seek shelter outside Port-au-Prince.

Haitian officials estimated the death toll from last week's quake could be
between 100,000 and 200,000, and said 75,000 bodies had already been buried in
mass graves.

"Supplies are beginning to get out to the people," U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert Gates said while visiting India. " ... My hope is that as we get these
trucks out on the roads with supplies and people see patrols -- that will
prevent any significant violence from taking place."

AMPHIBIOUS LANDING

U.S. Marines in landing craft brought ashore bulldozers, hydraulic tools mechanical diggers and
trucks on a beach at Neply village west of Port-au-Prince from warships anchored
offshore.

Pack-laden troops on the beach handed out food rations and set up temporary
shelters for the homeless. Crowds of Haitians quietly watched as the Marines set
up a forward base in the grounds of an old mission school, pitching rows of
tents flanked by a row of latrines.

Another group, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was on its way to Haiti,
diverted from what would have been a tour in the Mediterranean and
Europe.

At the airport in the damaged historic port city of Jacmel, Sri Lankan, U.S.
and Canadian troops delivered supplies.

In Jacmel, Hazem El-Zein of the World Food Programme said he expected 30,000
people were without homes in south Haiti.

Traffic congestion in Port-au-Prince was worse than ever on Wednesday --
perhaps a small sign of recovery -- as aid trucks and locals drove to gasoline
stations to fill their tanks, jamming streets still cluttered with earthquake
debris.

Fuel prices have doubled and there were long lines of cars, motorbikes and
people with jerrycans outside gas stations.

Cash needs to start circulating again in Haiti's shattered economy so people
can buy food and civil servants can be paid, an International Monetary Fund
official said.

Banks would reopen shortly and money transfer agencies were beginning to
process remittances from Haitians living abroad, Nicolas Eyzaguirre, director of
the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, Crimping tool said on the fund's
website.

Remittances total about $1.8 billion a year, accounting for at least 20
percent of Haiti's gross domestic product, economists say.

"Many people tell me they have run out of cash or are about to," said Simon
Schorno, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in
Port-au-Prince.

The city's water system was only partially functional but tanker trucks began
to deliver water to the larger makeshift camps, where vendors did brisk business
selling charcoal to families who were using small tin barbecues to
cook.

LOCALIZED VIOLENCE

Landline telephones in Port-au-Prince were still down, but two wireless
networks had spotty service, said U.S. Federal Communications Commission
officials helping with the relief.

While military escorts are needed to deliver relief, the United Nations said
security problems were mainly in areas considered "high risk" before the
disaster.

"I have seen no indications that leads me to believe that the security
situation is deteriorating," said General Floriano Peixoto, chief of the
Brazilian U.N. peacekeeping contingent.

Brazilian peacekeepers have helped Haitian police recapture some of the 4,000
prison inmates who escaped after the quake.

To speed the arrival of aid and stem looting and violence, the U.N. Security
Council has unanimously agreed to temporarily add 2,000 U.N. troops and 1,500
police to the 9,000-member peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

Around 12,000 U.S. military personnel are on the ground in Haiti and on ships
offshore including the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, which arrived on
Wednesday to provide essential capacity for complex surgeries.

At least one Latin American leader, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo
Chavez, a persistent critic of what he calls U.S. "imperialism," has already
accused Washington of "occupying" Haiti under the pretext of an aid
operation.

Haitian President Rene Preval has said U.S. troops will help U.N.
peacekeepers keep order in Port-au-Prince.

MEDICINE URGENTLY NEEDED

So far, feared outbreaks of infectious diseases have not erupted, although
many of the injured faced the immediate threats of tetanus and
gangrene.

Hospitals were overwhelmed and doctors lacked anesthesia, forcing them to
operate with only local painkillers.

Doctors Without Borders said there were backlogs of patients at some of its
surgical sites and they are seeing infections of untreated wounds. "Some victims
are already dying of sepsis," the group said.

Dr. Jon Andrus, Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization said
there were now 18 health facilities in Haiti, and some patients were being
evacuated to other countries.

International search and rescue teams were still combing rubble for survivors
and had pulled 121 people from collapsed buildings, a record for the number
rescued after an earthquake, the Pan-American Health Organization said.

The World Food Program had provided 200,000 people with rations for seven
days, but the International Organization for Migration estimated that 200,000
families -- or one million people -- were in need of immediate shelter.

Many people were surviving on high-protein biscuits or dry emergency rations.
The Food for the Poor charity managed to reopen its kitchens in Port-au-Prince
and served up vats of rice, beans and chicken, giving thousands of people their
first hot meal in more than a week.

(Additional reporting by Catherine
Bremer, Joseph Guyler Delva, Natuza Nery in Port-au-Prince, Lesley
Wroughton in Washington, writing by Anthony Boadle and Jane
Sutton; editing by Chris Wilson and Jackie
Frank)