Haiti Earthquake (Jan 2010) Flashcards
Magnitude? Epicentre? Focus?
=> Magnitude 7
=> 25km SW of Port Au Prince
=> 10km below the surface.
Rank on Transparency Index?
170th/180th.
When did Haiti finish paying debt and to who as a colony?
France, in 1947.
What is the tectonic setting of Haiti?
=> Microplate moving East.
=> In a multiple disaster zone vulnerable also to tsunamis and hurricanes.
Impacts of People?
=> 230,000 killed, 3 million people impacted (1/3 population).
=> 60% of the capital destroyed, 70% of buildings collapsed, roads blocked by debris.
=> 1.5 million homeless, 4,000 amputees.
=> Cholera outbreak from discharge of faecal waste. By 2011, 6,900 deaths and 500,000+ cases.
=> Brain drain. E.g some Haitian nurses working for NGOs have decided to continue working for them/ left to go to USA (better payed).
=> 20% of all jobs disappeared.
=> 80% of schools destroyed.
=> Many moved out to rural areas, but difficult to reach here with aid. Many moved back to the capital for work.
Responses?
Immediate:
=> Search teams with equipment and expertise.
=> Dominican Republic first to send aid (water, food, machinery), allowed Haitians to cross borders to reach hospitals.
=> Iceland sent response team within 24 hours.
=> $562m by UN to help 3 million people
Longer term:
=> 6 months: World Summit for the Future of Haiti: 54 countries, 45 international organisations committed $11 billion to reconstructions.
=> 1 year - Progress to clear was slow due to poverty and scale of disaster: only 5% of rubble cleared.
=> 2 years - $5.5 billion pledged by other countries, but only 53% released to projects.
Why live in a tectonically active area?
=> Poverty restricts choice. GNI: $660 V UK: $45,000
=> Port au Prince, the capital, is close to the fault line.
Economic Impacts?
=> $7.8 billion total damage and losses, surpassing the annual GDP.
=> World Bank cancelled Haiti’s Debt for 5 years.
=> 74% = $2
=> Large number of Haitians migrated, many went to USA, Canada etc. 1/2 of migrants entered Brazil entered illegally through Amazon, leading to anti-Haitian/ immigrant across many nations.
=> Tied Aid: Development projects worth $270m. US profit and non-profit organisations received 87% (together).
Environmental Impacts?
=> Only 2% of forests remain. —-> Increased risk of flooding as less rain is intercepted.
Political Impacts?
=> No working state institutions, already weak state -> now a failed one: No police or army to help tackle the disaster.
=> Low trust society due to the entrenched “culture of immobilism” (seen as too corrupt, too much poverty). People unlikely to follow instructions.
=> 25% of country’s civil servants died in earthquake as well as 100 UN personnel (personnel help to deal with insecurity and gang violence.
=> Collapse of government and UN buildings led to escape of 100s of prisoners (especially 4000 prison civille when destroyed). Difficulty in maintaining rule of law after collapse.
=> Led to need to defer elections.
=> TPS granted to Haitians already in USA, though deportations resumed in 2016.
Importance of Political Impacts?
=> 500 international scientists collaborated to map damages. -> Allows for search and rescue and aid distributions.
=> 7,000 UN troops already. 8,930 foreign soldiers and 3,300 police to help stabilise.
=> Leadership lacking, no realistic plans and government experience lost. —–> Only 38% of $1.4 billion donated aid spent. 13/15 ministry buildings and 30% of staff.
Mitigating/ Modifying against vulnerability (building design)?
Before:
=> 2010: No building codes, still lacks means to enforce. Leognae only has 6 employees in the engineering department who control new buildings, despite population of 200,000.
=> There was no clear disaster plan. Compare to in Chile 8.8 magnitude EQ, only killed 800, much faster recovery.
=> Increased urban sprawl —-> Slum formation making aseismic building impossible.
After:
=> Gov set up UCLBP to establish training and construction codes to try to reduce risk in the future.
=> BUT lesson not learnt. 2021 EQ - 7.2 magnitude. 2,200 people killed, 130,000+ homes destroyed. 39,000 displaced.
Mitigating/ Modifying against losses (e.g insurance)?
=> Failure of NGO cluster coordination. —> A) Inexperienced especially for scale. B) Few spoke French, difficulty in communication. C) Top-down way of working, did not cooperate with authorities.
=> Problem with spending —-> Leading to less than a penny every dollar going to Haitian organisation despite $1.5 billion spent by USAID. DUE TO danger/hardship pay for NGO workers, US contractors x5 costs.
=> Only 3.8% of monatery relief to government.
=> Distrust of Aid agencies. MINUSTAH threatened sovereignty and not investigated for 20,000 bullets used to ‘disperse gangs’ killing 20 in Cite Soleil.
