Haiti, 2010 Earthquake

• Background:

  Located on a fault between the North American and Caribbean plates 

  Developing country 

  Limited resources 

  Highly corrupt system of government 

  Lack of building controls and regulations 
• Hazard:

  Magnitude 7.0 

  Shallow focus (13 km) 

  Liquefaction on looser soil Epicentre- 24 km from Port-au-prince the capital
• Impact:

  Haiti only had one airport, -several ports and a few main roads- delayed the arrival of crucial aid supplies 
• Impact:

  -Over a quarter of government officials were killed and key government buildings were destroyed- government less able to organise recovery and relief efforts
• Impacts:

  October 2010- outbreak of cholera. Lack of medical supplies and trained healthcare workers caused disease to spread- killed 9792 and affected 820,000.
• Impacts:

  -Dead and missing- est. 316,000 

  -300,000 Injured 

  -1.3 million homeless 

  -Cost US$14 billion  
• Recovery and Preparedness:

  US$13 billion of aid was donated. 

  Most remained in the hands of international organisations and governments (Haitian government and organisations controlled less than 10%)
• Shallow Focus- 13km-

  Shallow Focus Earthquakes- Occur with less warning and are more destructive
• Liquefaction on looser soil caused many building foundations to sink
• Background:

  Developing country

  Limited resources were being spent on more immediate issues such as disease rather than earthquake preparations
• Background:

  High Level of corruption at both national and local level- Lack of resources and commitment to improve country's living standards and infrastructure
• Background:

  Lack of building controls and regulations- Many buildings in Port-au-Prince were poorly built informal settlement buildings.

  These buildings could not sustain the ground shaking and simply collapsed.

  The dense urban environment made it a difficult place for rescue teams to work
• Lack of disaster preparation:

  Meant government officials, police and emergency services didn't knew what to do when the Earthquake struck
• Many Haitians were living in poverty so didn't have the resources to prepare for or cope with the effects of the Earthquake
• Initial shock- less then a minute
• 12th January 2010
• 300,000 dead or missing
• 200 years since the previous earthquake
• Land subsidance
• Shipping couldn't use the part to bring supplies in