Devastation continues in Haiti after earthquake

A major quake of 7.3-magnitude rocked the Caribbean nation of Haiti on 12th January 2010 and damaged presidential palace besides other government buildings in the country's capital Port-au-Prince, an incident termed as "catastrophe of major proportions". This is the largest earthquake to hit the country, since 1984.

An injured man lies on a sidewalk in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Huge swaths of Port-au-Prince lay in ruins, and thousands of people were feared dead in the rubble of government buildings, foreign aid headquarters and shantytowns that collapsed in a powerful earthquake.(NYT photo)

Distributing food and clean water to hungry and thirsty quake survivors is the top challenge of the early relief effort. Looting, bad roads, a ruined port, an overwhelmed Port-au-Prince airport and fears of violence meant most Haitians have received no help three days after the quake. (NYT photo)

Around 1,40,000 people are estimated to have died in the massive earthquake that hit Haiti. The Haitian government has said that while 40,000 people have been buried, at least a hundred thousand are still under the rubble. (NYT photo)

A woman looked at bodies lying on the sidewalk that were left outside the central hospital in Port-au-Prince. The main morgue, in the Haitian capital, near the central hospital, was completely full and hundreds of bodies were piled up outside.(NYT photo)

The UN and others still hadn't figured out how to deliver assistance through broken roads and crumpled buildings, with little machinery to clear the mess. They are also contending with masses of people gathered in Port-au-Prince's streets, few working phones and a massive influx of goods and personnel without an organized plan.(NYT photo)

Survivors jostle for fresh water at an encampment near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Efforts to deliver desperately needed food, water and medical help to victims of Haiti's earthquake intensified as the voices of survivors buried underneath mountains of rubble began to fall silent. (NYT photo)

A Los Angeles County fire and rescue team works to extricate three women trapped in a collapsed building in downtown Port-au-Prince. (NYT photo)

Haitians scramble to board a bus headed out of the city at the main depot in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (NYT photo)

US President Barack Obama promised $100 million along with more US troops for the relief effort in Haiti, vowing that the United States would stand with the impoverished nation as it grappled with the devastation of its capital city.

Saying he wanted to "speak directly to the people of Haiti," Obama gave a brief address from the White House that was one of the sharpest displays of emotion of his presidency. "You will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten," he said, and stopped to compose himself. "In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you." (NYT photo)