Haiti Earthquake 2010

Question 1

when did the earthquake occur?

Answer 1

12th January 2010

Question 2

what magnitude was the earthquake?

Why was the initial quake far from the only concern?

Answer 2

the initial quake was 7.0 on the Richter Scale

- there were at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or above on the Richter Scale

Question 3

how many were killed in the earthquake?

How many residences were destroyed or damaged?

Answer 3

300,000 were killed (estimate)
AND
Over 250,000 residences were destroyed

Question 4

describe the plate boundary which Haiti is located on?

Answer 4

Haiti is located on a conservative plate boundary where the North American Plate slides past the Caribbean plate.

Question 5

how did the location of the epicenter make the quake particularly damaging?

Answer 5

the epicenter was just 16 miles west of Port Au Prince - the capital of Haiti and location of extensive slums

Question 6

what were the social impacts of the earthquake?

Answer 6

300,000 were killed (estimate)
AND
Over 250,000 residences were destroyed

• social infrastructure was destroyed including schools and ALL HOSPITALS in the capital
• rescue workers could not respond fully due to damaged infrastructure and
• rescue services could not cope with the scale of the disaster - three Medicines San Frontieres bases were destroyed.

Question 7

what were the economic impacts of the disaster?

Answer 7

• major infrastructure was damaged beyond repair - communication networks were temporarily wiped out.
• The Control Tower at Toussaint L’Ouverture (THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT) was completely wiped out and one of Haiti’s major seaports was unusable.
• 1 in 5 jobs were lost due to the severe effects on Industry.

Question 8

what were the environmental impacts of the disaster?

Answer 8

Half of the people in Port Au Prince had no access to sanitation and toilets, so simply poured excrement into the street.

Cholera broke out in the refugee camps and by July 2011 5900 had died and 216,000 were infected.

Question 9

Political Impacts

Answer 9

the government practically collapsed and administrative functions ceased to be carried out

Question 10

what has the mitigation going forward been?

Answer 10

• there has been very little mitigation - in 2017, the UN estimated that 2.5 million Haitians were still in need of humanitarian aid.
• Landmarks like the National Palace and the Cathedral in Port Au Prince remain derelict.
• The Cholera epidemic has worsened, partly exacerbated by UN Aid Workers bringing in the disease. As of 2016, more than 800,000 Haitians (more than 7% of the population) have died as a result of cholera