Group warned Haiti of possible quake

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A Purdue professor said he warned Haitian officials of the fault under Port-au-Prince, but little was done as a result of his warning.

Geophysics professor Eric Calais said he was unsurprised by the major quake, or by the the destruction left in its wake.

"Really my first thought was, 'It is going to be terrible for the people there,'" said Calais.

Calais has been to Haiti 15 times, most recently in 2008. He and others were working on a geological survey of the country. What he found was not good news.

"That there is a fault, right there under the city, loaded and ready to go," said Calais. "Of course we had no way of telling when, but we were able to provide a likely scenario."

The warning was apt: that scenario played out January 12.

Calais said two major factors prevented Haitian officials from acting on his findings.

First, less than two years separated the information and the actual quake so there was little time to make necessary changes. Secondly, the impovrished nation faced other major concerns, such as famine.

Calais says he is making plans to go back to Haiti for more research, once the clean-up is complete.

To find out more about Eric Calais or to read his paper in Geophysical Journal International, click here.