According to USGS, today’s earthquake occurred as the result of oblique reverse motion along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone which is roughly 75 miles west of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. “The earthquake occurred at shallow depths on either a reverse fault striking west and dipping to the north with a component of left-lateral slip, or a fault striking southeast and dipping to the southwest with a component of right-lateral slip,” the USGS said in a report. “At the location of the earthquake, the local plate boundary is dominated by left-lateral strike slip motion and compression. The plate boundary in this location accommodates eastward, left-lateral motion of the Caribbean plate relative to the North America plate. Within this context, the earthquake likely occurred on the east-west striking, north dipping fault plane with a component of left-lateral slip.”
Meanwhile the death toll is growing into the hundreds as more buildings, already unstable, become worse as aftershocks continue..
From Reuters dispatches:
The nearest big town was Les Cayes, where many buildings collapsed or suffered major damage, according to authorities, who said they were searching for survivors.
“I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” said Les Cayes resident Jean Marie Simon, 38, who was at the market when the earthquake struck and ran home to see if his family was safe. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.”
