Haiti Earthquake Flashcards
Where is Haiti
Haiti is in the continent of North America
Region: Caribbean
Haiti is an island country
What type of country is Haiti
Haiti is a Low Income Country (LIC)
What is Haiti’s Human Development Index (HDI)
Haiti HDI: 0.535 ranked 263rd in the world
What caused Haiti Earthquake
Haiti situated at northern end of the Caribbean Plate, on conservative plate boundary with the North American Plate (two continental plates)
The Caribbean plate and North American plate move past each other.
This movement is not smooth, and there is friction between two plates.
Pressure builds between the two plates until released as an earthquake.
When did Haiti earthquake occur
Haiti earthquake occurred on January 12th, 2010, at 16.53 (EST local time)
What was magnitude of Haiti Earthquake
Haiti earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 (on the Richter scale)
Where did Haiti earthquake occur
The epicentre of earthquake was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department.
It was approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.
The earthquake’s focus was 13km below the Earth’s surface.
What were the Primary Effect (SOCIAL)
20,000 people killed
(because Earthquake struck only 25km away from most densely populated area of the country, the capital, Port-Au-Prince)
300,000 injured
Main port was badly damaged.
8 hospitals collapsed.
100,000 houses destroyed
200,000 houses damaged.
4000 schools damaged or destroyed
Main prison destroyed
4,000 inmates escaped
The president’s palace and 60% of government buildings destroyed
What were the Primary Effect (Economic)
30,000 commercial buildings collapsed
Leading to a loss of trade and income for the already crippled economy
Clothing industry, accounts for two-thirds of Haiti’s exports
Reported structural damage at manufacturing facilities
Estimated 1 in 5 jobs were lost as result of earthquake
What were the Primary Effect (Environmental )
Sea levels in local areas changed Because some parts of the land sinking below the sea
Roads littered with cracks and fault lines
Small scale pollution by leakage of oil and other chemicals into surrounding environment
Because of rupture to industrial facilities
What were the Secondary Effect (Social)
1.3 million people homeless
2 million people no food and water
Frequent power cuts
Crime increased - looting
By November 2010,
outbreaks of cholera
What were the Secondary Effect (Economic)
Economic Cost: $7.9 billion
Airport and port damaged
Therefore damage to imports and exports
Slowdown in the rescue and response from overseas
What were the Secondary Effect (Environmental)
Deforestation to make way for temporary camps and building materials
Pollution of water supply lead to cholera epidemic
What were the immediate responses
Crucial aid slow to arrive due to damaged port
USA sent rescue teams and 10,000 troops
Bottled water and purification tablets provided
235,000 people were moved to less-damaged cities away from Port-au-Prince
UK government donated £20 million
What were the long-term responses
Haiti was dependent on overseas aid
New homes built to higher standard although response was slow
One year after earthquake,
over one million people still living in temporary shelters
The port needed rebuilding which required large amount of investment
