Having lived in the Dominican Republic for just 3.5 years, I have felt a number of earth tremors - they are not particularly worrying or scary and are normally a rumble or shudder for a few moments.
When the serious quake sadly hit the area of Port au Prince in Haiti it was a totally different sensation that we felt here also. Our world rocked from side to side and, whilst talking on the internet to friends in other parts of the DR, we all said "oh ****, what the hell was that?" We immediately knew that it was something serious somewhere............... at that point in time we did not know where or who was affected.
Poor Haiti was the recipient of this disaster, let us hope they can rebuild their lives with renewed energy and spirit and let us stop worrying about what tomorrow may hold for any of us.