About this picture: Haiti Earthquake pleading for help
Crew from California's Los Angeles county fire department clambered over destroyed downtown apartment block in the slim hope that someone might be living beneath.
One of the crew's dogs seemed to have detected signs of life earlier but two other dogs suggested there was nothing.
"It's worth trying," said fireman Dennis Cross, his blue uniform coated in white dust. "Even when it seems it may be a long shot."
Other rescue teams take chance to rest after over a week of frantic exertions.
The focus started shifting from rescue to the recovery of bodies.
Fragments of normality resumed amid the chaos.
In areas which escaped the devastation people washed cars with hoses, an unthinkable sight when people were desperate for water.
Drinking water remained scarce.
The damaged port partially reopened after structural engineers gave the green light for limited aid shipments.
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