Haiti Earthquake 2010

Faisal Al Naema

Mr. Haines

Humanities 9A

Issue

• Recently, on tuesday january 12, 2010, a catastrophe occurred in the southern part of the poor nation of Haiti, it was a high magnitude earthquake, about 7.0 magnitude that hit the poorest nation in the Caribbean and the world.

Earthquakes

• An earthquake happens after a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. A seismometer is what people and specialists use to record an earthquake and its magnitude. In the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacing the ground. The shaking in earthquakes can trigger landslides and occasionally volcanic activity.

Haiti

• Haiti is very poor country located in the Caribbean. It is situated in the western part of Hispaniola, one of the largest islands in the greater Antilles. It is the third largest country in the Caribbean after cuba and the Dominican Republic. It is not a well developed country, though it has a very large population compared to the size of it. It has a low GDP and most of the people work in agriculture.

Impacts• Social

• Economic

• Political

• Environmental

Social

• Some sources don't have estimates to amount of lose that occurred in this earthquake on its second day due to the aftershocks and magnitude level because it is so high and the loses are big. Now, it has been confirmed that 180,000 people have died due to this earthquake and an estimated of 20,000 more people have died in it too. There are more serious injuries than deaths and an approximate amount off 1.2 million people who are now homeless due to this earthquake. Most of these homeless people were forced on the following night of the earthquake to sleep on the streets, on pavements, or even on their cars either because their shelters are destroyed or they are scared it will struck again or aftershock anytime and their standing structures will not withstand it.

Economic

• Before this disaster occurred, Haiti's economy has seen a positive growth since 2005. This catastrophe is a big setback in Haiti's stability., but economists say that this won't be a fatal blow in this country's economy. Haiti's GDP is $11.53 and is very low, adding this disaster will decrease the GDP to make make it even worse when it is already the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Some sources say this disaster will cost them about 15% of their GDP.

Political

• Political impacts on any disaster will always have connections to the economic impact of the disaster. For example, political and financial leaders from around the world convene at the World Economic Forum, one of the central issues under discussion will be a strategy for Haiti's recovery. The politicians discuss a way to solve the economic impact that the disaster caused and have hard times and multiple decisionson how to solve the problem and that is how it impacts in the politics.

Environmental

• As everyone knows, the environment gets really harmed by the disaster that in that region. The scenario also happened in haiti, but stronger than any time causing a big harm to the environment and destroying many things. For example, after this earthquake that occurred in Haiti, many buildings were torn down. Also oil and chemicals could leak out of damaged storages and industrial spills after a water-borne illness run rampant.

Solution and Suggestion

• During earthquake:

– Don't hide under a building or inside it.

– Go to or seek a clear space and drop to the ground to be safe.

– Try your best to keep your family together if your are with one, especially toddlers.

• After earthquake:

– Try to stay as close as possible to your family.

– Other governments should help economically and socially if they had any conscience to what happened to poor people of haiti.

– The government of the country should not get sad, they should start right away to rebuild the nation and also maybe improve the nation.

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