Haiti earthquake Flashcards
(9 cards)
location and plate boundary
Haiti is an LIC in the Caribbean, located where the Caribbean and North American plates slide past one another in an east-west direction. This complex strike-slip fault follows a conservative plate margin.
past plate boundary issues
In 2008, scientists discovered that the plates had moved at an average of 7 mm per year since the last earthquake in 1751, and that the plates were jammed. On the 12th January 2010, the stress of the surrounding rocks was finally overcome and the plates were released, resulting in a magnitude 7 earthquake.
epicentre and focus
The epicentre was 24 km south west of the capital Port-au-Prince, with a population of 2 million, and had a shallow focus (13 km).
primary impacts of the earthquake
Much of Port-au-Prince was flattened in less than 60 seconds
Over 230,000 lives were lost
50% of densely packed and poorly built concrete buildings collapsed, including key government buildings such as police headquarters and the Palais Legislatif (parliament building)
Over 180,000 homes were damaged and 1.5 million people made homeless.
Over 600,000 people left Port-au-Prince
Nearly 5,000 schools were damaged or destroyed
Liquefaction on looser sediments caused building foundations to subside
Infrastructure was severely damaged - the main port subsided and became unusable, roads were cracked and blocked by building debris.
secondary impacts
Strong aftershocks were recorded - including a 6.1 magnitude earthquake on January 20th
With the loss of hundred of civil servants and destruction of ministries, the Haiti government was crippled
With the devastation of the police force and destruction of the main prison, the city became lawless
By the first anniversary of the earthquake, cholera had killed over 1,500 and 1.5 million people were still homeless.
short term responses
- rescue efforts
- infranstruture
- security
Rescue efforts - international search teams struggled within the dense and congested urban environment. Local people employed by the United Nations Development Project helped to find and rescue survivors out from the debris and clear the roads
Infrastructure - in Port-au-Prince, the US military took control of the airport to speed up the distribution of aid and reopened one of the two piers in the port
Security - 16,000 UN troops and police restored law and order, coordinated by a new UN/US Joint Operations Tasking Centre
short term reponses
- food/water
- health
- shelter
Food - in the absence of local food markets, the UN World Food Programme provided basic food necessities. Farmers were given immediate support before the spring planting season
Water - among other interventions - the UK Disaster Emergency Committee provided bottled water and purification tablets for over 250,000 people
Health - emergency surgeries were established to perform life-saving operations. The DEC provided over 100,000 consultations and built 3,000 latrines
Shelter - around 1.5 million homeless people were accommodated in over 1,100 camps, in emergency shelter, mostly in the form of tarpaulins. Over 1,000 of these people were at critical risk from storms and flooding
long term reponses
- aid
- food
- health
Aid - the Haiti Relief Fund manages an US$11.5 billion reconstruction package with controls in place to prevent corruption. Reconstruction is due to be completed by 2020
Food - the farming sector was reformed to encourage greater self-sufficiency and less reliance on food imports
Health - a shift in emphasis to focus on follow-up care, including mental health, took place within local health care services
long term responses
- buildings
- economy
Buildings- hospitals, schools and government buildings were rebuilt to new life-safe building codes. Local people were employed as construction workers. Slums were demolished and high-risk areas, such as unstable hillsides, were avoided when new settlements were built. The new homes are affordable, safe and sustainable.
Economy - some economic activities were moved away from Port-au-Prince to less earthquake prone areas. A UN strategy was developed to create new jobs in clothing manufacture, tourism and agriculture, and also to reduce the effects of uncontrolled urbanisation.
