Haiti Earthquake Pictures: The Damage As Seen From Space (PHOTOS)

GeoEye has collaborated with Google Earth to share their most recent satellite imagery of Haiti, which captures the devastation wrought by the earthquake as seen from space.

The satellite images were taken at approximately 10:27AM ET on Wednesday, January 13, from an altitude of 423 miles in space.

The photos (see slideshow below) detail the catastrophic damage suffered by homes, buildings, and Haiti's Presidential palace; people attempting to set up temporary shelter in a soccer stadium away from structures that potentially collapse; and survivors streaming through the streets of Port-au-Prince. Certain images also capture smoke from fires burning in the capital.

Get breaking news updates on Haiti on the Huffington Post.

• • • • • • • • • • • • A before and after view of the Presidential Palace, as well as neighborhood in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

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Comments

[climbing panda]

06:40 PM on 01/14/2010

did charlie sheen come out and declare this a controlled demolition yet or is the bbq scheduled for later this week?

[BREWSTERSOWN]

06:20 PM on 01/14/2010

$15 per year from each American would support every Haitian for an entire year. 4 cents per day from each of us - that is it. That comes to 7.5 billion per year. Now if you want to double their income it is 8 cents per day. Addressing poverty in America has a price tag at least 10 times that much. Even so, ending poverty in America would cost 40 cents a day for each of us or 75 billion total. In America it is as simple as raising minimum wage and providing better education. In Haiti it is as simple as the spare pennies we leave in the floorboard of our car. If banks can be handed hundreds of billions and we can commit $700 billion to Iraq and wars in Afghanistan, why is it so hard to devote such small amounts per day per American to investing in the lives of the poor for better living standards, education and pay standards? If we don't rely on our federal government to do our giving we cut out the expense and excessive cost and abuse of government run programs. I think it is time for Americans to start giving directly to the needs we see around us. The more needs that are met, the less government action will be called for, needed and wasted.

[BREWSTERSOWN]

06:30 PM on 01/14/2010

it is not "as simple as" but personal direct involvement in the betterment of each other's lives, particularly of the poor, would go a long way to a better world and life for each of us. The costs are minimal compared to the programs, wars, and government engine that we feed with our taxes.

[DallasDon]

06:19 PM on 01/14/2010

At the end of the day, and at the end of life, we're all the same.

This is not a time for politics or r@cism.
Regardless of what we think of these people based upon where they live or who runs their country, people injured and suffering.
They deserve the same care and compassion as anyone.

A catastrophe could happen right where you're sitting.

If an earthquake ruined your home and your life you'd want people to care and to help. If nothing else, we can all show compassion for these poor, unfortunate people.

Whenever we vilify and degrade any life, we're all diminished.
Our lives on this planet are too short, the work to be done too great, to let this spirit flourish.

Perhaps we can remember, if only for a time,
that those who live with us are our brothers and sisters,
that we share this same short moment of life,
that we seek nothing but the chance to live in purpose and in happiness,
winning what satisfaction and fulfillment that we can.

At the end of the day, and at the end of life we're all the same.

[Javida]

08:39 PM on 01/14/2010

Very well put. Thanks.

[thepheonix]

05:11 PM on 01/14/2010

It is not our responsibility to rebuild Haiti. We can provide disaster and emotional support but we should be very careful about monetary support. This nation has a history of stealing the money for a few. The only people who can turn Haiti around is them.

[tellthetruthalways]

07:21 PM on 01/14/2010

It is indeed our responsibility. We have done much to contribute to the current condition in Haiti. Remember, we supported the devastating embargo which brought the country to its knees after it won its freedom from France. And remember, the U.S. navy ran the country for 25 years. And remember, we installed the brutal Papa Doc, who was American educated, after we left. It's not our responsibility, think again.

[Javida]

08:42 PM on 01/14/2010

There are reputable organizations that have demonstrated their ability to help people directly -- The Red Cross, Salvation Army and Catholic Charities. The What If? Foundation helps feed Haiti's kids. Don't refuse to give for the reason of corruption. Rather, find those who are not corrupt and give through them.

[Tulka2]

04:07 PM on 01/14/2010

Trees stand. That's all i get. I am untrained. Did you know this is what Julia Child did during WWII? Yes, she was an expert in reading aerial photography. I am not.

[Fabini]

03:35 PM on 01/14/2010

Vertical overhead shots do not work in this case.

[ronnierayjenkins]

02:55 PM on 01/14/2010

Halliburton needs to be deployed immediately to rebuild, while Blackwater watches over them. This is the only way things will get done in a timely manner much like in Iraq.

[FightTheLies]

03:24 PM on 01/14/2010

Taht may be the case, but we want to do this conservatively. They cost too much money, and cause more problems than they create. If they were so effective, we'd have been out of Iraq already.

[Luna C666]

04:24 PM on 01/14/2010

Blackwater wouldn't get involved in Haiti anyway because they are largely Christian already, and Blackwater Founder/CEO Eric Prince is a Christian crusader who went to Iraq to 'lay muslims out on cardboard.'

[OldHick]

02:30 PM on 01/14/2010

The images confirm what I thought - most of the region is unaffected. I believe the damage and fatalities have been grossly overstated. Thank God.

[ruoth]

02:44 PM on 01/14/2010

And you can decide that from those images??

[JustAThought56]

03:09 PM on 01/14/2010

Although the quality of the photos is amazing, it is utterly impossible to assess the extent of the damage or the estimate the number of fatalities from them. Your confidence in your ability to discern this from a handful of aerial photos is baffling.

I would hope that you don't arrive at all of your conclusions in this way, but judging from your other posts, it seems that you do.

[ladyoftheisland]

04:04 PM on 01/14/2010

I live in a place where we it's a boat or a small plane (9 passenger or less) to get anywhere, anyone who has flown low over familiar territory knows it has to be really bad to look messy from the air. I don't know why - the loss of a dimension? - but things just look better from the air. Aerial photos are wonderful but they can be very misleading.

[wakeup804]

02:16 PM on 01/14/2010

Can you imagine what they are going through? It is bad enough to live on $2 a day, then you lose what little bit you have, this is just tragic. Many of us should look around us, and instead of always thinking we need more, perhaps a little gratitude for the many blessing we have might be in order. If you are afraid of getting ripped of by some of these so called charities, which take more for themselves than they give to the victims, check out Doctors Without Borders. I have been donating to them for years and they do good work. They lost all three of their medical facilities in Haiti and they could use some help to help the people. "Manus manum lawat". One hand washes the other, then we all come away with clean hands.

[OracleOfBandiagara]

03:37 PM on 01/14/2010

wakeup804, Good call.....................

Thank's for your suggestion; donating to 'Doctors Without Borders'.

[wakeup804]

05:39 PM on 01/14/2010

Like I said, they do good work anywhere in the world, and they do not take half of your donation in administrative fees. I have been donating to them for many years now. They could really use help since their hospitals were destroyed.

[alyseven]

01:12 PM on 01/14/2010

I don't know much about earthquakes, but based on the pictures I've seen from California quakes, I'm confused as to why there are not those huge cracks in the earth and the streets. Is it because this was not as severe (in magnitude), but because of the poor infrastructure of buildings in Haiti, the "shaking" did much more damage? Or are there different types of earthquakes?

[prkidd]

01:26 PM on 01/14/2010

The US Geological Service has an excellent educational webpage:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/

[alyseven]

01:56 PM on 01/15/2010

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[Delphine]

02:46 PM on 01/14/2010

There are other photos of cracks, collapsed highways, etc. You are not seeing much infrastructure.

BTW, I live in So. Cal. There were not "huge cracks" that opened up. There were some areas on the road where asphalt cracked, and some of the freeways that were held up by pylons collapsed.

Most of our buildings and homes did not fall down. Anything built in the last 30 years or so in So. Cal. is really earthquake sound. Few people were killed or even wounded. And still it was the most frightening thing, hugely destructive.

So anyone who says Haiti is not in a world of hurt right now (someone above is saying "just as I thought, not much damage" - well you can't see from space but there are plenty of images on the ground of collapsed buildings that were probably full of people.

This is a MAJOR disaster and the death toll will be high.

[Discipulus04]

11:55 AM on 01/14/2010

Wishing the best for Haiti

[gage]

11:53 AM on 01/14/2010

This is really neat thing that Google Earth does. I haven't downloaded the Haiti file file yet, but I used the Hurricane Ike file this to look at damage, to see the places that I used to go to that had been destroyed. It's pretty sad to look to look at this stuff, but it's very useful to have access to the before and after imagery. Evacuees could look at it to see if their house was still there.

[JustAThought56]

03:11 PM on 01/14/2010

Google owes it to GeoEye. They are the ones with the satellite system taking the images.