Haiti 2010

• Location

  15 miles southwest of Port-Au-Prince near the town of Léogâne.
• Date/time of day

  12th January 2010 at 16:53 local time.
• Affected people

  Estimated 250000 to 316000 deaths.

  3 million affected; 1.5 million left homeless.

  Over 300000 injured.
• Damages

  USD$ 7.9 billion; cost a further USD$ 11 billion to rebuild.

  105 thousand houses destroyed, 188 thousand damaged.

  4 thousand schools damaged/destroyed.
• Magnitude

  7.0
• Population

  9.843 million nationally.

  Density of 354.70 with a 1.15% growth rate.

  HDI was 0.433; 145 out of 169.
• Vulnerability Factors

  Port-Au-Prince and the surrounding towns is the most densely populated area in the country.

  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 50% of the population living below the poverty line. 

  Poor quality of built environment.

  The country only has one airport, with one runway, and control tower was severely damaged.
• Benefits of living in the location

  Port-Au-Prince is the capital of Haiti, and is the chief port of the country.

  90% of Haiti’s investments and jobs are found in Port-Au-Prince.
• Plate boundary

  Transform plate boundary, wherein two plates move is opposite directions, creating friction.

  Caribbean Plate moving west and the North American Plate moving east.
• Social Impacts (short-term)

  250000 residences were collapsed or severely damaged.

  Approximately 40% to 50% of all buildings in Port-Au-Prince and near by towns fell.

  2 million people were left without water or food.

  1.5 million people were moved into temporary shelters (tents)

  Crime increased, specifically looting and sexual violence.
• Social (long-term)

  Over 1 million people still lived in temporary shelters one year after the earthquake.
• Economic (short-term)

  30000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

  Many businesses were unable to operate due to this, leading to loss of jobs and wages, as well as an increase in production costs.
• Economic (long-term)

  From 2010 to 2015, there was an average loss of up to 12% of gross domestic product.
• Environmental (short-term)

  The earthquake exacerbated Haiti’s pre-existing water pollution issues, with debris falling in.

  More than 1 million farm animals and pets died, injured or abandoned.
• Environmental (long-term)

  Fertile land for agriculture were used for slums and camps, with farms being on steep hillsides.
• Political (short-term)

  Haiti had to rely on foreign aid which was delayed due to damage to both the port and the airport. Aid was left on the airstrip, due to the lack of people and trucks to transport.

  UN Peacekeeping troops from Nepal brought cholera to the country, infecting water sources.
• Political (long-term)

  Since 2010, nearly 800000 Haitians have had cholera and more than 9000 people have died.
• Modify the event (short-term)

  Only one official seismic-monitoring station at the time of the earthquake, with no seismologists.
• Modify the event (long-term)

  The 2010 earthquake spurred the official national network of 6 other stations, with several seismologists.

  Due to limited resources, official seismic-monitoring stations are sometimes offline. Inexpensive seismometers were installed in homes and workplaces across Haiti to provide data.
• Modify the Vulnerability (short-term)

  Aid was slow to arrive, due to the damaged port.

  £20 million donated by UK government.

  USA sent rescue teams and 10000 troops.

  325000 people were moved away from Port-Au-Prince to less-damaged cities.
• Modify the Vulnerability (long term)

  Better shelters have been constructed, and hundreds of volunteers have been trained to help with evacuations.
• Modify the loss (short-term)

  Bottled water and purification tablets were provided.
• Modify the loss (Long term)

  Since 2010, preparedness drills are more frequent.