Daniela Dodean Signs in for Haiti Earthquake Appeal
February 24, 2010

Daniela Dodean with signed shirt for ITTF Goodwill Fund Photo By: Adel Hakouz

Courtesy of ITTF Romania’s Daniela Dodean set the ball rolling at the Qatar Open in Doha on Sunday February 21, 2010. The Romanian, who excelled to reach the semi-final stage of the Women’s Singles event, signed a shirt that will be auctioned on Ebay; income will go to the ITTF Goodwill Fund, set up in January to help assist Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake.

Further world class players are following suit and following the conclusion of the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open on Saturday February 27, 2010, further shirts from the leading names in world table tennis will become available.

Epicenter
The earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale with the epicenter being near the town of Leganes, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital; the earthquake occurred at 4.53pm local time on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

Furthermore, by Sunday January 24th at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded as as of Friday February 12th an estimated three million people had been affected by the earthquake.

Devastation
The Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless.

It is estimated that 250,000 homes 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.