Haiti Case Study Flashcards
Which plates caused the Haiti earthquake?
Th Caribbean and North American plates
What kind of plate boundary was the Haiti earthquake caused
by?
Conservative
What magnitude was the Haiti earthquake?
7.0
What date and time did the Haiti earthquake strike on?
12th January 2010 at 16:53 local time
How deep was the focus of the Haiti earthquake?
13km
Where was the epicentre of the earthquake located?
16km south east of Port au Prince
What was the name of the fault which caused the Haiti earthquake?
Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault
How long did the tremors last for in the Haiti earthquake?
1 minute
How many people were affected by the Haiti earthquake?
3 million
How many people were killed in the Haiti earthquake?
230,000
How many people were injured in the Haiti earthquake?
300,000
How many people were made homeless by the Haiti earthquake?
1 million
How many residences and commercial buildings were destroyed in the Haiti earthquake?
250,000
30,000
Name some specific types of buildings which were hit by the Haiti earthquake.
Schools Hospitals UN hq World bank hq Government buildings
What factors made the capital of Port au Prince hard to reach?
The destruction of virtually all infrastructure
The Port was hit badly making it difficult for ships to bring in aid
What were the secondary effects of the Haiti earthquake?
- Spread of fires
- Spread of diseases due to poor living conditions and a lack of sanitation (cholera was a main disease)
- Shortages of both food and water
- A small local tsunami
- 1/5 of all jobs were lost
How many aftershocks were there in the 12 days following the Haiti earthquake and what was the strongest one?
52 with the strongest being M5.9
Factors which made the Haiti earthquake deadly (9)
- Shallow focus
- Struck close to a densely populated area
- Poorest country in the Western Hemisphere
- Poor building standard, didn’t conform o building codes
- Many people living in slum conditions in Port au Prince after rapid urbanisation
- Only airport (1 runway) in Haiti’s control tower was badly damaged. The Port was unusable
- Aid began to pile up at the airport with so few people to distribute it
- Rescue teams took 48 hours to arrive due to airport issues, locals dug for survivors with their bare hands
- Shortage of doctors, people died from preventable causes e.g. Broken limbs
Which country was the first to respond to the Haiti earthquake?
The neighbouring Dominican Republic
How many tents were sent to Haiti?
23,000- set up outside the zone of destruction as a focus location for I’d and sanitation
What did people do as a response to the Haiti earthquake?
- Dig for survivors with their bare hands
2. Grieve for loved ones
Who wrote off Haiti’s debt?
The G8 countries
Where is there an attempt to stop construction in Haiti?
In high risk areas
How will areas need to rebuilt in Haiti?
From scratch
What type of buildings are there pressure to construct in Haiti?
‘Life safe’ buildings
What have many people done due to the Haiti earthquake? (Longer term)
Returned to rural areas
