Haiti Case Study Flashcards
Earthquake facts and characteristics (4 points)
It was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, occurring on 12/01/2010, 25km away from Port-au-Prince, 8 miles deep.
How much international money provided?
$430 million altogether, $100 thousand given by the USA and $330 thousand given by the EU.
Casualties?
242,000 people killed
Response (short term) from Haiti? Why?
Slow and ineffective response times, due to low GNI so less investment available for emergency services to fund equipment, jobs etc
What happened with sewage?
Haiti’s damaged sewage network became such a big problem that international aid such as healthcare supplies were provided to combat an outbreak of cholera.
Response to loss of homes?
1 million refugee camps were built as well as 115,000 tents and 1 million tarpaulin shelters which were provided by other countries.
Presidential statement? What did this mean for Haiti?
‘Parliament has collapsed (so no MPs to control the situation/ make important decisions/ hard to keep the country organised and functioning). The tax office has collapsed (no money for rebuilding). Schools have collapsed (no education for 3-4 years/ loss of jobs). Hospitals have collapsed (more casualties/ people cannot get treatment).
Why did the earthquake occur?
250 years of pressure building up in a conservative plate boundary between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate
Primary effects?
Transport and communication links damaged, 250 thousand homes and 30 thousand buildings including the President’s house collapsed and 242 thousand people killed
Secondary effects?
People were squashed into shanty towns, poor sanitation led to diseases spreading, looting became a problem, 1 in 5 people lost their jobs, 1 million people became homeless
Factors contributing to devastating effects?
Many people lived on less than £1.50 a day, many were subsistence farmers, houses were built on sloping unstable land, already food and fuel shortages and Haiti had not recovered from Hurricane Hanna two years earlier.
