6.1 Quake Shakes Haiti, 72K Bodies Buried

Big Island hit by aftershocks

(NEWSER) - A 5.0 earthquake and several aftershocks hit Hawaii late this afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or injury. The tremblor struck Kae'na Point in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. Nearby resident Joe Lopez, 70, felt a "pretty good jolt," he told the Honolulu Star Advertiser. The quake shook his home and sent books plunging to the floor. No tsunami warning was issued. More»

Actor will serve as nation's ambassador at large

(NEWSER) - "Diplomacy" doesn't even make the list of the top million things associated with Sean Penn, but Haiti has gone ahead and named the actor its ambassador at large anyway. Penn, who has long labored for Haitian relief in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake, was offered the job at an A-list fundraiser over the weekend by Haiti's foreign minister, reports the New York Post . “I do accept,” Penn said, adding it would be refreshing to “change being called 'hey, you (bleep)', to 'hey, Mr. Ambassador!'” More»

But some see 'progress' amid the 'distress'

(NEWSER) - The wires are awash with two-year anniversary stories about Haiti's earthquake, which pretty much run the optimism gamut from the Washington Post (Headline: "Two years after quake, signs of progress in Haiti") to the Wall Street Journal ("Two Years After Quake, Haiti Remains in Distress").

• Journal: It sees "donor fatigue" settling in and resentment rising against the government of former pop star Michel Martelly. Political infighting has held up reconstruction projects, and the US, along with charities and NGOs, are running out of patience. In the meantime, "half a million people still live in squalid tent cities and rubble remains where it fell in this ruined capital" of Port-au-Prince. Full story here .

Government relocates hundreds of refugees from 1972 quake

(NEWSER) - In the aftermath of a 1972 earthquake that leveled 50,000 buildings and killed 10,000 in Nicaragua's capital city of Managua, many of the country's poor had no place to go. While 250,000 of their middle- and upper-class counterparts migrated to safer, more habitable locales, the less fortunate occupied the crumbling remains of the few standing vacated apartment buildings. Four decades later, the government has relocated those 103 families to new homes, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

True count may be 250K less than Haitian estimate

(NEWSER) - The number of people killed or made homeless by the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti last year is well below the Haitian government's figures, according to a report commissioned by the US government. The researchers estimate that between 46,000 and 85,000 people were killed in the quake, according to a copy of the unreleased report obtained by AP . The Haitian government says 316,000 people died in the quake, but it has not explained how it arrived at the official figure. More»