3.3.4 Earthquakes - Case Study Flashcards
Background on Haiti
Haiti shares an island with the Dominican Republic and is in the Caribbean.
Capital: Port Au Prince
Population: 11.4 million (2020)
GDP per capita: $1,176 (2020)
HDI: 0.510
Date of the Haiti earthquake
January 12th 2010
Intensity of the Haiti earthquake
- Richter scale: 7.2
- Mercalli scale: 9
Primary impacts of the Haiti earthquake
- 200,000 killed
- 300,000 seriously injured
- 3 million people affected
- 1.5m homeless
- 300,000 buildings destroyed or seriously damaged
- Cost to economy is $8bn, 32% of GDP.
- UNICEF – 750,000 children were affected and thousands separated from parents of orphaned.
Secondary impacts of the Haiti Earthquake
- Liquefaction
- Lotting, frustration, anger and violence.
- Cholera
Cholera as a secondary impacts of the Haiti Earthquake
Haiti had lots of risk factors associated with Cholera.
For example:
* Population displacement
* Crowding
* Availability of healthcare services
* Underlying health status of population
* Availability of safe water
Cholera is preventable and treatable but spreads quickly. It killed more people after the initial earthquake events.
Economic impacts of the Haiti Earthquake
- Economy already so weak that limited ability to bounce back.
- Wholly dependant on NGOs for aid.
- Insufficient capital and capacity to replace or repair damaged assets.
- More smaller economic loss than Japan, but this was because they had less to lose.
Immediate responses to the Haiti Earthquake
The density of the capital city and other urban areas, debris, road conditions and congestion made it difficult for search and rescue teams. It could take a day and a half to make a trip of a few miles.
A range of groups helped with search and rescue, including:
- Volunteers
- Local government and national government
- Military
- National Civilian Organisation
- NGOs and charities. E.g. Red Cross, Save The Children
International aid
$13.5bn aid from around the world.
In the first 6 days, 9 cargo and 2 passenger planes came with vital supplies and staff from MSF were diverted to the Dominican Republic as all infrastructure in Haiti was severely damaged. This meant medical staff had to come by road, adding over 36 hours of delay.
MSF - Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without borders), provided medical aid.
How was the response to the earthquake unsuccessful?
- Poor living conditions and lack of livelihoods.
- Slow economic recovery
- Political instability, violence
- Prone to frequent Hurricanes (Sandy, Matthew, Tomas)
- Water and sanitation. Cholera outbreaks.
Long-term responses to the Haiti earthquake
- Infrastructure – airports set up
- Temporary residency: 220,000 to the Dominican Republic. 58,000 to the USA and 50,000 to Brazil.
- Camps - people living in over 1,200 tents.
- Violence, lotting and kidnapping frequency increased after the earthquake.
What tectonic plate does Haiti lie on?
On the Northern edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate.
Where was the epicentre of the Haiti earthquake?
In the most populated area of Haiti, the capital Port Au Prince with a population of 2.4 million.
Haiti’s vulnerability
Haiti is very prone to tropical storms. – It has had to face more natural hazards recently. e.g. Hurricane sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
High urban growth around Port Au Prince caused uncoordinated and unplanned development with informal settlements and slums in hazard-exposed areas and urban wasteland. High density urban centre, high risk buildings, structures, limited investment in social and physical infrastructure.
Haiti’s forest cover
Severe deforestation is a major problem in Haiti - in contract to neighbouring Dominican Republic.
Only 2% of Haiti’s land is covered by forest.
