A look at the Haiti earthquake on the 5-year anniversary

The Associated Press
January 10, 2015 at 5:15AM

A look at the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and its aftermath:

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THE DISASTER: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck just before 5 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010, in southern Haiti, destroying more than 100,000 buildings and damaging 200,000 in densely packed Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns. Haiti's government put the death toll at 316,000, while some estimates were lower. An exact accounting was impossible given the widespread devastation. Many Haitian officials and police officers died in the quake, leaving the government paralyzed. The United Nations, which has had peacekeepers in the country since 2004, lost 102 staffers in the disaster, the largest single loss of life in its history. In the immediate aftermath, more than 1.5 million Haitians were living in crowded camps, often sheltered by little more than plastic tarps.

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The Associated Press