Haiti and Japan case studies

• What were the physical factors that made the Haiti earthquake so deadly?

  It had a shallow focus which inreased the amount of ground shaking, liquefaction caused many buildings to sink, and the epicentre was close to the densely populated capital Port Au Prince
• What were the political, social, and economic factors that made the Haiti earthquake so deadly?

  Haiti was a developing country and therefore poor, money was not being invested in earthquake defences, high level of government corruption led to lack of resources being shared, lack of building regulations meant poorly built housing collapsed, there was no disaster preparation, international aid was delayed and slow to arrive
• How many people died in the Haiti earthquake?

  316,000 people
• What was the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake?

  7.0
• What were the main impacts on Haiti after the earthquake?

  International aid supplies didn't arrive or weren't distributed effectively due to the airport becoming damaged, a quarter of government officials were killed and many government buildings were destroyed so they couldn't organise recovery efforts, and an outbreak of cholera occured due to a lack of medical supplies
• Why was Haiti's recovery from the earthquake slow?

  Most of the international aid pledged to Haiti never arrived, government corruption meant international organisations had to provide emergency services and manage projects themselves, many Haitians were left homeless due to being poor, and the massive outbreak of cholera caused many deaths
• What was the magnitude of the Japan earthquake?

  9.0
• How many people died in the Japan earthquake?

  20,000 people
• Why was Japan less affected by their earthquake than Haiti was?

  Japan had very good construction due to strict building regulations and meant buildings didn't collapse, there was a low level of government corruption so they actively helped out its people, defences were already in place in affected areas, they had an early warning system, and people were educated on earthquake preparation through drills
• Why was Japan's response to the earthquake effective?

  Few buildings collapsed and so rebuilding was easier, the government helped in restoring damaged areas, Japan could quickly recieve international aid unlike in Haiti