Why did Leonard pitts write sometimes the earth is cruel?

In response to Haiti being hit by a massive and devastating earthquake in 2010, Leonard Pitts reflected on the fact that some places in this world seem to get kicked when they are already down. For all the problems that Haiti faced before the earthquake - corrupt government, imperialist colonialism, extreme poverty, etc - it seems that even when it looks like it can't be any worse, the planet can still throw something as terrible as natural disasters at you. Personifying Earth as cruel is a way to reflect on just how sad and tragic the earthquake was for Haiti - a disaster that could not have been avoided (but feels so unfair) on top of all the manmade ones that could.