Haiti Case Study

• Where is Haiti Located?

  Haiti is a small island called Hispanola located in the Caribbean, southeast of the USA and East of Cuba.  Its capital city is Port-au-Prince.
• What was the cause of the earthquake in Haiti in 2011?

  The earthquake was caused by the North American Plate sliding past the Caribbean Plate at a conservative plate margin.  Both plates move in the same direction, but one moves faster than the other.  The pressure that was built up because of the friction between the 2 plates was eventually released causing a magnitude 7 earthquake on the Richter Scale with an epicentre 16 miles West of Port-au-Prince and a shallow focus of 5 miles.  The earthquake struck at 16:53 (4:53 pm) local time on Tuesday 12 January 2010.
• How many people died in Haiti?

  316,000
• How many people were made homeless?

  1 Million
• What percentage of government buildings were destroyed?

  60%
• What happened to transport and communication links?

  Badly damaged.
• What important buildings were damaged in the Haiti Earthquake?

  Hospitals (50+) and schools (1,300+) were badly damaged, as was the airport’s control tower
• What happened to the prison in Haiti?

  It was destroyed and 4,000 inmates escaped.
• What were the secondary effects of the Haitian earthquake?

  • 1 in 5 lost their jobs
  • Bodies on the street which caused disease
  • It was difficult getting aid into the area due to issues with the airport
  • People on the streets
• What is Haiti

  A low-income-country
• What was the short-term responses to the Haitian earthquake?

  • $100 million in aid given by the USA and $330 million by the European Union
  • 810,000 people placed in aid camps
  • Healthcare supplies provided to limit disease
  • 4.3 million people provided with food rations in the weeks following the earthquake
• What was the long-term response to the earthquake in Haiti?

  • 98% of the rubble on the roads hadn’t been cleared restricting aid access
  • 1 million people are still without houses after 1 year so still have to live in aid camps
  • Temporary schools created and new teachers trainee
  • Water and sanitation eventually supplied for 1.7 million people