Transcript
Page 1: Haiti earthquake case study

Emma, James and

Jack.

HAITI EARTHQUAKEHAITI EARTHQUAKE

Page 2: Haiti earthquake case study

o Hait i is part of Hispaniola, a large Caribbean is land of which the Dominican Republic takes up half of, East of Hait i .

o I t l ies on the conservative plate margin between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates.

o A movement at this margin due to a large bui ld up of pressure occurred at 16:53 local t ime on the 12 t h of January 2010, result ing in a devastating release of seismic act ivity at a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale.

o I t was particularly devastating as the earthquakes epicentre was only 25km west of Port-au-Prince, Hait i ’s capital ci ty, in which most of the nations population, businesses and services are located.

LOCATION

Page 3: Haiti earthquake case study

o The Caribbean is lands are on their own separate plate that is one of the smal ler tectonic plates of the earths crust .

o I t is surrounded on three sides by North and South American plates 1 . On the eastern edge of the plate there is a destruct ive boundary where the two plates, North American and Car ibbean are moving towards each other 2 .

o However, as the boundary curves around to form the northern boundary of the Caribbean plate, where the Hait ian earthquake occurred, there is a conservat ive margin.

o The earthquake’s epicentre was very close to the Enriqui l lo Fault which was formed as a result of a s l ipping of the two plates against each other in their opposite direct ions releasing energy, in the South of Hait i .

TECTONIC BACKGROUND

Page 4: Haiti earthquake case study

o On 12 January 2010 , a magnitude 7 ea r thquake h i t Ha i t i a t 16:53 local time. The ea r thquake ’s ep icen t re was 25 km west o f Por t -au -Pr ince , the cap i ta l . Mos t peop le , bus iness es and se rv i ces were loca ted in the cap i ta l . By the 24th January , a t least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or g rea ter had been recorded in the su rround ing a rea .

DATE AND TIME

Page 5: Haiti earthquake case study

PRIMARY EFFECTSo Many l ives were lost, with many

people ki l led by col lapsing bui ldings

o Port-au-Pr ince was flattened in less than 60 seconds

o Lateral spreading resulted in the ground slumping or fal l ing away

o 50% of bui ldings col lapsed, o Liquefact ion on looser

sediments caused bui lding foundat ions to col lapse

o Infrastructure was brought downo 1.5 mi l l ion people became

homelesso Damage was local ised– e.g.

bui ldings bui lt on hard bedrock near the epicentre suffered less damage

o A small local ised tsunami ki l led 7 people

o The landscape was permanently changed.

Page 6: Haiti earthquake case study

o Strong aftershockso Possible trigger for

sequence of much larger earthquakes

o With the loss of hundreds of civi l servants and the destruction of ministr ies, the Hait i government was crippled

o Local food prices at markets became too expensive for the majority of people

o With the main prison destroyed in Port-au-Prince and the pol ice force crippled, the city became lawless

o By the first anniversary of the earthquake, over 1.5 mil l ion people were st i l l homeless

SECONDARY EFFECTS

Page 7: Haiti earthquake case study

o Immediate aid- $100 mi l l ion in a id given by the USA and $330 mil l ion by the EU. However there was a lack of immediate aid.

o Rescue efforts- international search teams struggled to recover people. They employed local people by the UNDP (United Nations Development Project)

o Security- UN troops and pol ice restored law and order

o Food- the UN world food programme provided basic food necessit ies and farmers were given immediate support in order to help with the spr ing growing season

o Water- bott led water and purificat ion tablets were distr ibuted

o Health- emergency services were establ ished to help prevent disease and perform l i fesaving operations.

o Shelter- Many people took advantage of 115,000 tents and 1,000,000+ tarpaul ins that were provided.

o Bui ldings- rapid structural assessments were made of bui ld ings

IMMEDIATE RESPONSES

Page 8: Haiti earthquake case study

o Aid- a s ing le Hai t i fund manages an $11.5 b i l l ion reconstruct ion package wi th contro l to prevent corrupt ion

o Food- the farming sector was re in forced to encourage greater se l f- sufficiency and less re l iance on food imports

o Heal th - a sh i ft was made to focus on fo l l ow up care inc lud ing menta l hea l th

o Bui ld ings- hospi ta l s , schools and government bu i ld ings were rebu i l t to new l i fe safe bu i ld ing codes. E .g . cou ld have used re in forced foundat ions , re inforced stee l and counter weights etc . Local peop le were employed as construct ion workers, s lums were demol ished and new set t lements were bu i l t on low r i sk areas e .g . not on unstable h i l l s ides. New homes are more affordable and susta inab le . They a lso bu i l t temporary schoo ls to re juvenate in f rastructure .

o Economy- Economic act iv i t ies were moved to less earthquake prone areas. A UN stra tegy was developed to c reate new jobs , e .g . c lo th ing, manufactur ing, tour i sm and agr icu l ture , as we l l as to reduce effects o f uncontro l led urban isat ion .

LONG TERM RESPONSES

Page 9: Haiti earthquake case study

o The number of people in relief camps of tents and tarps since the quake was 1.6 mill ion, and almost no transit ional housing had been built . Most of the camps had no electr icity, running water, or sewage disposal, and the tents were beginning to fall apart

o 1 year after the earthquake, 1 mil l ion people were st i l l without housing so had to continue to l ive in aid camps.

o 6 months after the quake, 98% of the rubble/debris st i l l hadn’t been cleared

o Between 23 major charit ies, £1.1 bil l ion had been collected for relief efforts in Hait i , but only two percent of the money had been released.

o Significantly exacerbating the problem, a cholera outbreak occurred in Haiti in October 2010.

LONG TERM IMPACTS

Page 10: Haiti earthquake case study

o The main reason why the Haiti earthquake was so devastating was due to its lack of preparation for the earthquake.

o There was no education about earthquakes.o The buildings were not earthquake-safe buildingso There was also no stockpiling of emergency supplieso These are all because Haiti is an LEDC. After the

quake struck, they were almost totally reliant upon the international community for aid relief.

PREPARATION FOR THE EVENT


Top Related