The timeline of rescue efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010 involves the sequence of events in the days following a highly destructive 7.0 Mw earthquake with an epicenter west of the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. With at least 70% of the city's buildings destroyed,Whitelaw, Kevin (15 January 2010). Death, Desperation Mark Haiti's Dark Hours, NPR. Retrieved on 17 January 2010. the earthquake also caused damage and loss of life in other parts of the country. The Haitian government experienced a near-collapse and affected people were left mostly to their own resources until foreign aid arrived in the following days.Llana, Sara Miller (17 January 2010). Haiti earthquake: Angry crowds bemoan lack of government response, The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved on 17 January 2010. Initial death toll estimates ranged between 50,000 and 200,000.

Tuesday 12 January 2010 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC): the earthquake happened.

People dug through rubble, rescuing survivors and recovering bodies. The bodies were laid out in the streets, some in piles. During the night, many people digging through the rubble used flashlights or torches. The Argentine Air Force Mobile Field Hospital, already deployed at Port-au-Prince, was the only medical facility still open.Only one Hospital still active in Haiti Argentine helicopters from the United Nations force were helping evacuate the gravely injured people to Santo Domingo.

13 January 2010

Haitian Rescuers searched collapsed buildings for victims. The wounded were taken to hospital in ambulances, police pickup trucks, wheelbarrows, and improvised stretchers. Many hospitals collapsed: on 13 January 2010, the Argentine military field hospital remained open in Port-au-Prince, and it was struggling to attend to the huge numbers of injured. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that at least two hospitals were still in good shape, and their doctors would begin treating about 500 people who needed emergency surgery. Bodies of the victims were piled on the streets. Heavy equipment was needed to dig through the ruins; many people were still trapped in collapsed buildings. A triage center was set up in a parking lot, but the wounded were forced to lie in medical tents to await treatment, due to the many patients, and water was scarce. In Pétion-Ville, people used sledgehammers and their hands to dig through a collapsed commercial center.

The first international team to arrive in Port-au-Prince was ICE-SAR from Iceland, landing within 24 hours of the earthquake. Some rescue teams, such as the ones from Cuba, arrived in Haiti and started their mission. The Peruvian government sent rescue teams, dogs and 50 tons of food transported by two Peruvian Air Force airplanes. Peruvian companies were providing food donations and other basic aid. However, the scale of rescue and relief efforts was yet to meet the need. Because of difficulties reaching some affected areas, some rescue teams tried to enter Haiti through the Dominican Republic. The United States Coast Guard deployed helicopters and several aircraft and cutters to the region to aid in relief work and perform reconnaissance flights over Haiti, which aided in assessing the worst damaged areas. The Coast Guard Cutter Forward arrived in the waters off Port-au-Prince at about 8 a.m. on Wednesday, and together with a Maritime Intelligence Support Team was able to assess some of the damage caused to the port. The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk also arrived in the coastal waters of Haiti on Wednesday afternoon.

The International Committee of the Red Cross set up a special website to facilitate family contacts, which allowed people in Haiti and abroad to register the names of relatives whom they wanted to contact. It incorporated responses to those queries as they became available. Catholic Relief Services, which has worked in Haiti for 50 years, prepared food and other aid to help those affected, committing US $5 million to help survivors.

At 7pm EST a team of United States Air Force Combat Controllers landed at Toussaint Louverture International Airport and established control of Air Traffic Control duties within 28 minutes to assist in humanitarian aid efforts. The Combat Controllers directed over 2,500 flights without incident from a card table using only hand radios. Under their direction planes were able to take off and land every five minutes, bringing in over 4 million lb. of supplies. The team leader of the Combat Controllers, Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis, was later recognized as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2010 because of their efforts.

14 January 2010

Medical aid for the Haiti earthquake became a military-style operation. At least 20 countries provided manpower, supplies or financial aid to Haiti, while the most immediate foreign assistance was being provided by military and humanitarian contingents from neighboring Dominican Republic. Dominican president Leonel Fernández visited Haiti to set up an emergency plan for assistance with president René Préval, to include reestablishing communications, rescuing the victims, burying the dead, clearing the rubble, reestablishing the supplies for electricity and water and coordinating the Dominican army with the United Nations Stabilization Mission for the relief operations. Colombia's military also contributed to the relief effort by sending relief flights. Jamaica sent a team of 168 military and medical personnel to Port-au-Prince.Jamaica Observer, "Jamaica Pulls Out of Haiti" , Erica Virtue, 18 March 2010 (accessed 19 March 2010)

Staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross already in the country distributed medical items to hospitals and two ICRC-chartered aircraft carrying specialized staff and 40 tonnes of relief supplies – mainly medical items – left Geneva for the island. At the same time, the organization made its forensic expertise available to organizations attempting to recover and identify the dead.

Communication and infrastructure problems were worsened by the destruction. Streets were clogged with debris and rubble, making it nearly impossible to distribute food, water, temporary shelter, and medical supplies that had been delivered throughout the day by international charities and governments to the airport. Ships were also unable to render aid because the port facilities had been too damaged.Trying to prevent "absolutely catastrophic" situation in Haiti, CNN (14 January 2010). Retrieved on 14 January 2010. The Port-au-Prince morgue became overwhelmed with thousands of dead bodies that were laid outside on the streets and sidewalks. Aid workers began to concentrate on identification and disposal of corpses.Charles, Jacqueline, Clark, Lesley, Robles, Frances, Trention, Daniel (14 January 2010). Massive damage stymies Haiti relief efforts as bodies pile up, The Miami Herald. Retrieved on 14 January 2010. Concerns were also raised by a representative from Oxfam that aid workers may be overwhelmed with rampant crime from gangs who had taken over the country, which prompted the UN to intervene to restore some order.Greene, Richard (14 January 2010). Aid workers heading to Haiti fear for their safety, CNN. Retrieved on 14 January 2010.

Social networking became a significant response to the earthquake as Twitter and Facebook spread messages and pleas to assist; "Haiti", "Help Haiti", and "Red Cross" were among the most popular topics on Twitter.Twitter search for Haiti survivors Channel 4 (15 January 2010). Retrieved on 15 January 2010. However, Haitians updating their Facebook statuses were blocked for repeatedly sending messages to tell people that they and their friends or family members were alive, which triggered spam guards on the website.Facebook users in Haiti say some access has been blocked, The Miami Herald (14 January 2010). Retrieved on 14 January 2010. The American Red Cross generated $7 million within 24 hours by offering an option to text message $10 donations by cell phone, setting a record for mobile donating.Gross, Doug (14 January 2010). Social networks, texts boost fundraising, CNN. Retrieved on 14 January 2010. The OpenStreetMap community responded by greatly improving the level of mapping available for the area using post-earthquake satellite photography provided by GeoEye.

15 January 2010

A reported 9,000 corpses were cleared off the street by Haitian government crews, and buried in mass graves, with thousands more awaiting burial in the streets and outside the morgue. Search and rescue teams from eight nations were employed to attempt to find survivors still trapped in buildings.Charles, Jacqueline, Daniel, Trenton, Robles, Frances, Rosenberg, Carol (15 January 2010). Death toll in Haiti may be 50,000; troops on way, The Miami Herald. Retrieved on 15 January 2010.Mackey, Robert (15 January 2010). Latest Updates on Rescue and Recovery in Haiti, The New York Times. Retrieved on 15 January 2010. Transportation into the affected areas remained problematic, as a bottleneck blocked aid arriving from the Port-au-Prince airport. Some organizations landed in Santo Domingo and drove into Haiti on rugged dirt roads. Pilots were told that any flights coming into Port-au-Prince should expect to circle the airport for at least an hour, and that no jet fuel was available.Cowell, Alan, Otterman, Sharon (15 January 2010). Relief Groups Seek Alternative Routes to Get Aid Moving, The New York Times. Retrieved on 15 January 2010. Cuba lifted airspace restrictions to allow US airplanes to save time transporting critically wounded Haitians to the US.Roig-Franzia, Manuel, Sheridan, Mary Beth Ruane, Michael (15 January 2010). Cuba opens airspace to US evacuation flights, The Washington Post. Retrieved on 15 January 2010.

Médecins Sans Frontières reported that the need for medical services at their two hospitals was "overwhelming". Although it had been badly damaged, the Hotel Villa Creole in Port-au-Prince was transformed into a hospital and media center; journalists used the drained swimming pool as an operating base, and Hope for Haiti and the International Medical Corps started a makeshift clinic for the wounded.Quake-battered Haiti hotel offers refuge for all Reuters (15 January 2010). Retrieved on 15 January 2010. The Dominican Institute of Communications set up a cell tower using a satellite link, to replace towers damaged by the quake.Latest developments in ongoing Haiti earthquake crisis, The Miami Herald (15 January 2010). Retrieved on 15 January 2010.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will consider fast-tracking immigration to help Haitian refugees.Canada considers fast-tracking Haitian immigration, CBC News (15 January 2010). Retrieved on 15 January 2010 In the US, Haitians were granted Temporary Protected Status after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the earthquake "a disaster of historic proportions". Temporary protected status will allow about 100,000 Haitians in the United States illegally to stay for 18 months, will stop the current deportations of 30,000 more, but will not apply to Haitians outside the US.Preston, Julia (15 January 2010). Haitians in U.S. Illegally Given Protected Status , The New York Times. Retrieved on 15 January 2010.