The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck near Mexicali on Sunday was actually significantly stronger than the 7.0 temblor that hit Haiti in January.
But effects in terms of damage and loss of life could not be more different.
The Haiti quake brought thousands of buildings to the ground and killed an estimated 200,000 people.
By contrast, the quake in Mexico left two dead and about 230 injured, none seriously. Authorities reported a total of 45 collapsed or partially collapsed
buildings in Baja California.
Why the difference?
Kate Hutton, a Caltech seismologist, said that the population near the epicenter of Sunday’s quake in Mexico was not nearly as dense as in Haiti, where the quake struck near a highly urban environment.
She also noted that Haiti has no building codes or enforcement and that most buildings were substandard.
Hutton said the quake in Mexico probably occurred between five and 10 miles below the surface, whereas the Haiti quake occurred closer to the surface.
— Ching-Ching Ni in Pasadena
Photo: Above: In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a man stands in the ruins of the Notre Dame Cathedral
at the start of a three-day period of national mourning a
month after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated
200,000. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Side: A man surveys the damage to a building in Mexicali, Mexico, after Sunday’s quake.
(Sandy
Huffaker / Getty Images / April 5, 2010)