LIC Case Study: Haiti Earthquake

Question 1

Location/ background

Answer 1

• Haiti is an island in the Caribbean and is one of the least economically developed countries in the western hemisphere.
• Haiti is a multi-hazard zone as it is affected by seismic activity and tropical storms
• Haiti is located where the North American and Caribbean plates slide past each other in an east-west direction (conservative plate margin)
• Scientists discovered in 2008 that the plates had become jammed

Question 2

Risk and vulnerability of the population

Answer 2

• Many people are housed in poor and densely packed shantytowns
• Corruption
• Country has less money to put into buildings and less governance to ensure building codes are followed.
• Dense urban environment
• People have little time to recover before next disaster hits

Question 3

Time of day/ epicentre

Answer 3

• Jan 12th 2010
• 16:53 local time
• Epicentre was near town of Léogane, 25km from the capital

Question 4

Magnitude/ depth of focus

Answer 4

• A 7.0 magnitude
• Focus was 13km below the Earth’s surface
• 50 aftershocks of 4.5 MMS recorded

Question 5

Social effects primary

Answer 5

• 3 million people affected
• 300,000 people injured, 1,000,000 made homeless
• Between 217,000-230,000 died
• 5000 schools destroyed or damaged
• 4000 prisoners escaped as main prison was destroyed

Question 6

Secondary social effects

Answer 6

• 2 million left without food and water
• Regular power cuts
• Crime increased
• By November, there were outbreaks of cholera
• City became lawless
• Breakdown in law and order led to looting

Question 7

Economic effects

Answer 7

• The port, major roads were damaged beyond repair and needed replacing
• Clothing industry accounts for 2/3 of exports and damaged facilities
• 1 in 5 jobs lost as result
• Estimated cost of damages was $7.8 bn

Question 8

Immediate response

Answer 8

• Damaged port meant aid was slow
• USA sent rescue teams and 10,000 troops
• Bottled water and purification tablets provided
• 235,000 people moved away from Port au Prince
• £20 million donated by UK government
• UN World Food Programme provided basic food as local food markets had collapsed
• 16,000 UN troops deployed to restore law and order
• 1100 emergency camps set up for homeless

Question 9

Long term responses

Answer 9

• New homes built to higher standard
• Over 1,000,000 still lived in temporary shelters 1 yr later
• Port needed rebuilding which required a lot of investment
• EU gave $330 million + World Bank waived the country’s debts for 5 years
• Part of Haiti’s debt has been written off and aid agencies have made sustainability a key focus in recovery.
• Some economic activities have been moved away from earthquake prone areas