Haiti Earthquake Flashcards
Background
12/2/2010
Magnitude 7
16 miles west of Port-au-Prince
Shallow focus - 5 miles
Conservative boundary - Caribbean and NA plates
Vulnerability of region
EQ struck at 4pm - lots of people out and about
Low level of development: $770 GDP per capita, 65y/o life expectancy
Buildings in poor condition, not designed to be EQ resistant - first EQ since 1770
Majority of Port-au-Prince living in slums
Only one airport
Primary Impacts
222k deaths, 300k injured - 15% of population
160k died initially, 70k more in aftermath
2.3mil displaced
Port was destroyed and airport control tower
Electricity supplies damaged
Hospitals and schools destroyed
Secondary Impacts
Cholera outbreak due to poor sanitation
Heat decayed bodies, leading to disease - 75k buried in mass graves in attempt to prevent spread
5000k still sleeping rough in March (rainy season)
Key gov. buildings + UN HQ destroyed leading to unsuccessful recovery in LR
20% lost their jobs
Immediate Responses
$100mil US aid, $330mil from EU
800,000 placed in aid camps - no potable water
Healthcare essentials provided to prevent disease
Searching had to be done by manually lifting rubble
US army sent 5000 troops
Damaged airport meant much of US aid couldn’t reach area where it was needed
Aid workers had to stay in UN compound due to violence and looting
Long-term response
5% of rubble cleared a year later
People still living in camps
Little rubble cleared and only 5% of land having legal documentation on ownership meant that transition from camps → temporary → permanent housing proved difficult
