KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Haiti Quake more Powerful than Hiroshima Atom Bomb

Haiti Quake more Powerful than Hiroshima Atom Bomb

By Norma Yuriar

Fresno, Calif.  (KMPH News) — A Fresno State University Seismologist says the largest earthquake to strike Haiti in more than a century released 1,000 times more energy than a historic explosion in American history.

"Three orders of magnitude, more energy release from this magnitude 7 earthquake than was released by the Hiroshima nuclear explosion," Dr. Stephen Lewis said.  "This released lots and lots of energy compared to that atomic bomb, 1,000 times more energy."

That's because Dr. Lewis says the epicenter of the Haiti quake was pretty much right underneath Port–Au–Prince.

"...which means the vibrations of the earthquake did not have a chance to die down before they came right out of the ground and shook the city," Lewis said.

Dr. Lewis is a Seismologist and Chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Fresno State University.  He has researched seismic activity for more than 30–years.

"The earthquakes themselves don't kill people, what kills people are the collapsing buildings, if we can build buildings well enough then the loss of life will be much smaller than it was in Haiti," Dr. Lewis said.

The big factor is the quality of construction.

"For example the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, magnitude 7.1 did a lot of damage, knocked down a section of the Bay Bridge, collapse the structure of the freeway in Oakland, killed, I think 64 people... same size earthquake more or less as Haiti but now we are talking about 140,000 to 150,000 deaths," Lewis said.

The loss of life and devastation hits home for Stephanie Cruz.  The Fresno woman and her husband established an orphanage in Haiti three years ago.

"The building was made of concrete and the building just collapsed," Cruz said.  "Luckily the kids were in the front of the house when it collapsed and they were able to escape, but now we have to find a permanent place for them to live."

She says the fourteen children at what used to be La Gloria Casa Orphanage in Haiti are too afraid to go back into any building.  They insist on sleeping outside.

"It's really hard with me being over here and them being over there," Cruz said.

According to Dr. Lewis the last major earthquake to hit Haiti was about 200 years ago.  He says the good news is it will probably be that long before another quake of this magnitude strikes again on the same section of the fault.

To learn more about "2 Little 2 Ignore" — that's the faith based non–profit organization established by Stephanie Cruz and her husband go to www.2little2ignore.org; There you'll find information on how you can help.

Reporter can be reached at nyuriar@kmph.com or call (559) 453–8850.