DEBORAH AMOS, Host:
We'll be bringing you updates all morning, on the earthquake that struck Haiti. The epicenter of the magnitude seven quake was just outside the capital Port- Au-Prince. Few phones are working. The dead are still in the streets.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
We're told this quake toppled much of the presidential palace as well as other landmarks across the city of Port-Au-Prince, and of course many hillside shanties in a very poorly constructed city. The city's own mayor said that most of the structures were unsafe, even in normal times. The U.S. State Department and the International Red Cross and other aid groups are planning major relief operations.
The U.S. Coast Guard, we're told, is already sending Coast Guard cutters and aircraft from units on the east coast. But at the beginning, in the initial hours, this is down to human hands, people digging by hand through the rubble- to find friends and loved ones.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)