HAITI EARTHQUAKE 2010

-DIPALI A. INGOLE(Roll no.13PE005)

ME(PE&D)

INTRODUCTION:Recently , on January 12,2010 , a huge

earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck the Caribbean island nation of Haiti.

Haiti has a history of destructive earthquakes but this was the worst in 200 years

PREVIOUS EARTHQUAKE ON THE ISLAND:

1751-almost all masonry buildings completely collapsed

1770-magnitude 7.5;over 200 people killed1842-10,000 people killed1946-magnitude 8.0;1600 people killed in Haiti

HOW EARTHQUAKE OCCURE:

An earthquake happens after a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves.

Haiti lies close to the boundary of two tectonic plates

The Caribbean plate is shifting by about 20mm A year relative to the North American plate

ContinueThe earthquake was located 113 miles from the

plate boundary between the Caribbean plate and the north American plate

IMMEDIATE DAMAGE:Medical facilities were badly affected, with some

hospitals destroyedEnergy supplies were disruptedRoads were blockedThe international airport was unable due to

control-tower damaged The public telephone system was knocked out,

with no signal for mobile phones and no internet

Haiti's presidential palace before (top) and after the earthquake :

AFTERSHOCKS:The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded

eight aftershocks in the two hours after the main earthquake, with magnitudes between 4.3 and 5.9.

Within the first nine hours 32 aftershocks of magnitude 4.2 or greater were recorded, 12 of which measured magnitude 5.0 or greater, and on 24 January reported that there had been 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater since 12 January quake.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning immediately after the initial quake, Nearly two weeks later the beach of the small fishing town of Petit Paradis was hit by a localized tsunami wave shortly after the earthquake

GENERAL INFRASTRUCTURE:In February 2010 Prime Minister Jean-Max

Bellerive estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings were severely damaged and needed to be demolished

The deputy mayor of Leogane reported that 90% of the town's buildings had been destroyed

About half the nation's schools and the three main universities in Port-au-Prince were affected. More than 1,300 schools and 50 health care facilities were destroyed.

CONDITION IN AFTERMATH:People took sleeping on the streets, on pavements

or in cars because their homes had been flattened, or they feared remaining buildings would collapse due to aftershocks

A few days after the earthquake the government handed a control of airport to US authorities to try to speed up aid effort

By 16 Jan, US helicopters were beginning to distribute aid to hard-to-reach places

In the heat and humidity, decomposing corpses in the rubble began to smell

CASUALITIES:No. of deaths: 2,22,570No. of people injured:300000No. of people destroyed:97,294Houses damaged:1,88,383Estimated economic loss:$7.8 billion

EARLY RESPONSE:Many countries responded to the appeals and

launched fund-raising efforts, as well as sending search and rescue teams.

The neighboring Dominican Republic was the first country to give aid to Haiti, sending water, food and heavy-lifting machinery.

The government sent eight mobile medical units along with 36 doctors. In addition, 39 trucks carrying canned food were dispatched, along with 10 mobile kitchens and 110 cooks capable of producing 100,000 meals per day.

RESCUE AND RELIEF EFFORTS:

Quickly after the event, aeroplanes arrived from Island, China and Qatar with tonnes of aid materials.

Within 24 hours a medical team from Island had come

A 50 strong Chinese team followedQatar and Israel sent teams to set up field

hospitalsMany countries including the UK, offered financial

aid

Status of recoverySix months after the quake as much as 98 % of

the rubble remained unclear. The number of people in relief camps of tents

since the quake was 1.6 million, and almost no transitional housing had been built.

Most of the camps had no electricity, running water, and the tents were beginning to fall apart.

By the end of 2010, more than 3,333 had died at a rate of about 50 deaths a day.

2011-only 5% of the rubble has been cleared and only 15 % of the required basic and temporary houses have been built.

2012- recovery was hampered due to Tropical Storm Isaac impacting Haiti’s southern peninsula.

2013- 1.5 million Haitians living in camps following the quake,

15% of the camps had no basic protection services and 48% no health services.

Many camps remained at a risk for flooding.

Public Health Dangers of Haiti Earthquake

Potential breakdowns in sanitationDifficult access to clean waterProblems with housing and subsequent

crowdingDangers of tropical diseases outbreakMalnutrition

Causes:Most houses poorly constructed, building codes

not properly followedDense urban environmentLack of earthquake preparation(alarm system)Lack of proper rescue and relief

Social ImpactThe social impact is the deaths and

homelessness and the injuries.during earthquake about 100,000 people were

killed Many people are injured and might die do to lake

of hospitalization and health insurance.

Economic impactOne of the least expensive ways to build a home

is with concrete. The most likely way to die in an earthquake is from something heavy falling on you

Many of the building in Haiti are build of concreteBecause of the poorness in the country they do

not have a strong building foundation that hold the building up during these kind of cases and not falling and increases the chances of more deaths

Reducing Earthquake Riskpreventing construction on hilly ground so that

buildings will not fall on top of each otherbuildings should be designed to take maximum

shakingcolumns need to be strong, while windows and

doors should be regularly spaced.there should be regular drills in schools and

elsewhere to teach the safest response during an earthquake

Thank you