Earthquakes are more than just natural disasters. Their destruction is a function of human activity, wealth, politics, and governance. So on January 12, 2010, when a 7.0-magnitude shockwave decimated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, locals thought the seismic event came from a force beyond man or nature: It was an act of God.
The quake’s survivors had been warned this day would come: rapture, the second coming of Christ, which would bring about the end of humanity. Fearing the flood that was to follow, they ran to the hills outside the city. But the prophecy never came. Five years later, an estimated — and astounding — 250,000 people called Canaan home.
Today these Haitians have become trapped on the edge of survival, penned in by the long, slow collapse of Haiti’s government and the rise of merciless gangs. This multimedia feature packages 13 years of reporting with stunning visuals and song to tell how they’ve endured the wrath of nature and the fall of a nation, only to wonder what will happen next.
