Structural engineers from Miyamoto International, a global earthquake and structural engineering company, visited the heavily damaged areas on Monday to assist in damage assessment and search and rescue operations. The company’s CEO and president, Kit Miyamoto, said that their main mission was to inspect government water towers and damaged offices of local charities.
Miyamoto said he saw the quake-stricken area recover more strongly. He said masons and others improved building practices after the destruction of Port-au-Prince in the 2010 catastrophic earthquake. People there felt the earthquake on Saturday morning and rushed west about 75 miles into the street, but there were no reports of damage in the capital.
“The Port-au-Prince building is much better than it was in 2010. I know that,” Miyamoto said. “That’s a big difference, but that knowledge isn’t widespread. The focus is definitely on Port-au-Prince.”
Contributed by Associated Press writer Trenton Daniel in New York.