From Haiti to Chile: Family Survives Two Quakes in Two Months

Haitians who escaped to Chile after earthquake now sleep outdoors following second tremor

The Desarmes family not only survived the earthquake in their native Haiti, they managed to get out. Their new home: Chile, where they have just survived their second earthquake in two months, the BBC reports.



Pierre Desarmes, a Haitian singer based in Chile, brought his father, Joseph, mother Jeanelia Pierre, along with two brothers, a niece and four other Haitian nationals to Chile following Haiti's devastating earthquake in January.

It was chaotic, not knowing the language, but at least they found some respite from the chaos, the BBC says.

Then on Saturday, the earth once again began to shake beneath their feet.

"I thought we were going to die, because we had left Haiti with so much destruction behind, and came here thinking we were safe, but we ended up living through something worse," said Stanely Desarmes. "I thought this was the year I was destined to die."

Pierre says he believes his relatives will need help to try to recover from the trauma of back-to-back disasters.

"They hadn't even got over the quake in Haiti when they arrived here to live through this massive earthquake," he says, according to the BBC. "It wasn't a quake, it was really something unbelievable. And for them it is just inconceivable."

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)

Source: USA Today