vulnerability

• level of development reasons for Haiti?

  • Poor = limited resources → spent on current issues like disease rather than earthquake prep 
  • Many Haitians in poverty, so they didn’t have the resources such as access to stable housing (slums) and healthcare to prepare for or cope with the effects of the earthquake → Risk-Poverty Nexus model 
  • Poor = limited education so harder for them to understand and prepare for disasters
• governance reasons for Haiti?

  • Highly corrupt national + local governments → lack of resources to improve the country’s infrastructure and living conditions → PAR model
  • Lack of building regulations → many buildings in Port-au-Prince were poorly built slum housing. These buildings couldn’t withstand ground shaking and so collapsed. Dense urban pop = difficult place for rescue teams to work 
  • Lack of disaster prep = government officials, police + emergency services, ordinary Haitians didn’t know what to do when the earthquake struck 
• level of development reasons for Japan?

  • Areas vulnerable to tsunami already had 10m high walls, evacuation shelters, and marked evacuation routes = reduced deaths 
  • Many offices + homes were equipped with earthquake emergency kits (containing drinking water and basic medical supplies)
  • Emergency drills are regularly practised in both schools and businesses --> disaster preparedness day on 1st of september
• governance reasons for Japan?

  • Strict building regulations - Japanese buildings were better able to withstand the earthquake → 75% of buildings are constructed to withstand earthquakes 
  • Low level of corruption = building regulations were strictly enforced
• how was Japan not successful in 2011?

  it failed to consider the impact of a tsunami on the nuclear power plant --> so it wasn't built to withstand the impacts of such a large tsunami

  maximum wave height of 40m overwhelmed the 10m high walls