Transcript

Why Did so many People Die in the Haiti Earthquake of 12th January 2010?

Location

The earthquake was located 113 Miles from the plate boundary between the Caribbean Plate and the North American Plate

Transform/ conservative plate boundary with one plate sliding past another

There have been no large earthquakes in Haiti for 200 years

Earthquake was 7.3 on Richter scale,15km from the Capital Port au Prince and only 6 miles deep

HurricanesIn 2008 a thousand people were killed and up to a million

were made homeless after four hurricanes

struck around the important town of

Gonaives in as many weeks

Haiti has found it difficult to recover

from the cost of the damage caused by

the hurricanes in 2004 and 2008

Thousands of farms were destroyed and there was a national

food shortage

The hurricanes of 2008 have forced

hundreds of thousands more

people to flood into Port au Prince

Housing 3 Million people live in Port au Prince with

the majority living in slum conditions after

rapid urbanisation.

300,000 people live in the Cité

Soleil slum where there are no paved roads or sewers and

little to no water or electricity

supply.

Most houses are self built; made out of breeze blocks and scrap, with no

foundations or rules restricting height. Many

houses are built on steep hillsides.

Large families (as many as 15) live in cramped

conditions in the poorer houses

Poverty66% of the population of Haiti earn less than £1 a day with 56% of

the population classed as “extremely poor”

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western

Hemisphere

Many of the poorest people eat mud cakes

to stop them from feeling hungry

Many of the population of Port au Prince are

uneducated and work in informal jobs around

the city.

Political TroublesPresident Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown during rioting in 2004. The country has a new president René Préval but the government is very unstable. UN Troops patrol the streets.

People in Haiti blame the government for riots caused by the price of rice, beans and fruit rising by 50% from 2007-2008

Very little government money has been spent on improving the quality of buildings, hospitals and roads.

The government is now officially the most corrupt on earth!

Put the five factors in the order that you think were most to blame for the high

number of deaths

• Political troubles

• Housing

• Hurricanes

• Location

• Poverty

Least to blame

Most to blame

Why Did so many People Die in the Haiti Earthquake of 12th January 2010?


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