Earthquake rocks Haiti

The Caribbean island is devastated by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, 12th January 2010 and dozens of aftershocks.

PORT-AU-PRINE, Haiti - Roads full of hungry, homeless people. A ruined port and an overwhelmed airport, Hundreds of crumpled buildings and little heavy machinery, few working phones. Relief supplies and emergency experts started pouring into Haiti from around the world on Thursday, 14th January 2010 but aid groups said the challenge of helping Haiti's desperate quake survivors was enormous. "It's a logistical nighmare."

There are too many dead bodies; officials buried 7,000 of Haiti's citizens in a common grave. The death toll could be between 45,000 to 50,000 with a further three million people hurt or homeless.

Banks, military, civilians join aid effort. The U.S. and the world have coordinated a massive response to the crisis in Haiti but the need is monumental. The U.S. moved to take charge in earthquake-ravaged Haiti on Thursday, dispatching thousands of troops along with tons of aid to try to keep order as well as rescue the suffering in a country dysfunctional in the best of times.

The large United Nations mission in Haiti, some 9,000-strong, was still operating with about 3,000 peacekeepers patrolling the still-calm streets of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, population centre and heart of earthquake damage. But the U.N.'s abilities to respond aggressively to possible problems were hobbled as well. Its headquarters building was destroyed, and dozens of its personnel, including some leaders were dead or missing - leaving it in need of rescue help itself.