case study - haiti earthquake

• the haiti earthquake happened in january 2010 and was a magnitude 7
• the epicentre was in the centre of the capital so it caused alot of destruction
• one challenge of the haiti earthquake was that water systems were destroyed. this caused a disease called cholera and concequently more deaths
• haiti is a developing country and is very poor meaning they have bad access to water, food and medical care
• haiti is too poor to prepare for earthquakes, for example the buildings are built too close together so when one falls, everything falls with it. however, haiti uses bamboo to keep houses sturdy because its strong and cheap but also lighter so if it fell the impact wouldnt be as bad as concrete
• japan is educated on earthquakes and the educate children about them for the future, however in haiti, the literacy rate is 61% so they are uneducated
• haiti could not prepare for the earthquake since they had few seismologists and no seismic monitoring stations