Earthquake in Haiti
- Duration
- 13 January 2010 - 28 January 2010
- Military personnel
- 90
- Fatalities
- none
- Decorations
- none
On 12 January 2010, at 16.53 local time (22.53 CET), Haiti was hit by a devastating magnitude-7 earthquake. The earthquake's epicentre was located about 15 kilometres south-west of capital Port-au-Prince. Total chaos was the result. Thousands of people lost their lives during the earthquake and the aftershocks. An estimated 3 million people were affected by the earthquake.
An large-scale relief effort was launched by the international community, including the Netherlands. Rescue workers were sent from all over the world. The small airport at Port-au-Prince had insufficient capacity to deal with this massive influx. Many relief flights therefore had to be postponed or cancelled, which seriously hindered the relief operation.