ACTED, an NGO installing water bladders in IDP camps, fills four bladders set up in Tapis Rouge, a slum area high in the mountains in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Carrefour Feuille.  No one has distributed food or water in this volatile area since the earthquake devastated Haiti last 12 January. [Photo: Sophia Paris/MINUSTAH]

On 12 January, a powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude (USGS) on the Richter Scale affected Haiti , at 16.53hrs local time (GMT 21.53hrs). The earthquake happened 17km south-west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Aftershocks  measured 5.9 and 5.5 respectively in the first hours after the quake and continue to occur.

Seven organized settlements have been established for 42,000 displaced people; some 460,000 people remain in 315 spontaneous settlements throughout Port-au-Prince, according to IOM.

Sanitation and vector control is becoming a major concern in many of the spontaneous settlements, which lack proper site planning.

WFP reports that people in outlying departments are finding it difficult meeting their basic food needs due to an increase in food prices. The targeted immunization campaign continues in settlement sites. To date, there has been no notification of events with epidemic potential, according to PAHO/WHO.

Some 80 to 90 flights per day are landing at Port-au-Prince airport, down from the peak of 120-150 flights per day. Traffic congestion is a major issue in Port-au-Prince and at the Jimani border crossing.

Humanitarian organizations continue to partner with local radio stations to broadcast important messages to affected populations such as how to get food and where to get vaccinated.

The Haiti emergency is also a high-risk environment for sexual exploitation and abuse.  During an emergency, local populations become more dependent on others for their survival and thus more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse. Read what humanitarian agencies can do about it.

Read More: Latest OCHA Situation Report (8 February 2010)  -  ReliefWeb  -  OCHA's Response fact sheet  -  ABC on Gender in the Haiti Earthquake  -  Remarks by USG/ERC Holmes at the Ministerial Meeting on Haiti (Montréal, 25 Jan)