For hundreds of thousands of Haitians, this was the moment when life was changed forever - but these orphaned girls were among the lucky ones.
A missionary filming his colleagues playing with children inside the H.O.P.E Center For Orphaned Girls caught the terror on their faces when the ground began to shake and they were forced to run for their lives.
Rick Hursh, who had travelled from Cincinnati with members of the Grace United Methodist Church, left his camera rolling as the quake struck and the girls’ laughter quickly turned into distressed screams.
The walls of the orphanage crumbled thanks to the impact of the tremor, which measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale, but all 20 orphans and all staff and volunteers escaped to safety.
The girls are now being housed in a one-bedroom apartment while awaiting new accommodation.