2010 Haiti Earthquake Overview

On the 12th of January 2010 at precisely 4:53 pm, a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Léogâne which led to colossal impacts that would forever scar Haiti. An earthquake so destructive and lethal that it is classified as 5th deadliest natural disaster in the world! If you can’t picture how dangerous this was, the Hiroshima Atomic bomb was equal to 13 kilotons of TNT which is the same as a 6-magnitude earthquake.

It was Léogâne where the earthquake chose to attack. Léogâne is a city located approximately 40km west of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince lying on the north coast of Haiti’s southern peninsula within the Caribbean region. To be more specific it is located 18.5128°N and -72.63147°W and sits 22m above sea level.

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Earthquakes are when the Earth’s surface violently shakes because of the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates. Most of the earthquakes occur on fault lines which is where two of the Earth’s tectonic plates slide relative to each other.

Most earthquakes and also volcanic eruptions occur on or near to the edges of the Earth’s tectonic plates. they are most prevalent on the “Ring of Fire”, the title given to the edge of the large Pacific Plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand and the western coastline of North and South America all lie in this major fault zone.

The earthquake occurred because Haiti is situated on two fault lines, where the North American Plate meets the Caribbean Plate. The Caribbean Plate is moving in an eastward direction around eight millimeters a year. But approximately 250 years ago these fault lines become stuck and locked together due to friction. Eventually, this caused a build-up of pressure until a plate breaks along the fault line which triggers the earthquake.

Approximately 320,000 were killed in this horrific event, which is 1 in every 15 persons. This is because major cities were located close to the epicenter

1.2 million people were left homeless. A reason for this is because houses were poorly constructed and densely packed together

300,000 people were injured during this earthquake, this was a problem as most of the hospitals had collapsed so there was nowhere to treat patients which also increased the death toll.

The 2010 earthquake produced around $7.8 billion in damage and it is predicted to be as much as $15.7 billion by 2050

Businesses were destroyed, main clothing industries, airports, and trade ports were ruined. These forms of income were now left in rubble.

Countless government buildings demolished including the Presidential Palace!

Chemicals leaked out of industries and factories causing the water to become contaminated and which led to water-borne illnesses. On October 20 there was an outbreak of cholera, this was due to lack of sanitization and the water quality significantly dropped.

According to the United Nations, one of the biggest issues that arose was the piles of corps that were left lying in the street. Which could’ve led to dangerous diseases and infections.

Agriculture is very important in Haiti and for most, it is a significant income. Some of the country’s export items were ruined like bananas, cocoa, rice and sugar which also affected their economy.

A lot of earthquakes, even the big ones aren’t inevitably catastrophic, but when it comes to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, it was a big disaster partly because of their poverty, being the poorest western hemisphere country in the world. Human behavior effected how severe the outcome of the earthquake was because of how well they built structures, humans and the government had the responsibility of building stronger infrastructures with the awareness of an earthquake. If humans-built stronger, reinforced buildings the severity of the disaster would have drastically dropped, with fewer deaths, injuries and their economy wouldn’t have fallen as much.

Research was done in 2011 that strongly suggested that deforestation and methods similar could definitely increase the severity of a landslide or earthquake. Deforestation on steep areas increases both the risk of an earthquake and a landslide. The study implied that severe soil erosion removes any natural materials from the Earth’s surface which releases stress and strongly encourages activeness along fault lines that then triggers earthquakes.

As part of a global response to the earthquake, numerous rescue and search teams from around the world were sent into Haiti to pull any bodies out from piles of rubble. They worked 24/7 to complete their job, their method was simple, they sent a dog into a collapsed building, the dog would sit to indicate a body at their location and the rescue team would collect the bodies. This was an efficient method because they easily located the bodies and then they were able to get them out, because sometimes with rescue teams locating the body is the hardest part. However, this was not the case for this rescue.

Immediately after the earthquake, various organizations promised to provide sufficient humanitarian aid to Haiti, the main organizations being UN and the international Red Cross. Not only companies but numerous countries sent over aid workers, food, supplies, and clothing to help out with the recovery process. The companies provided enough water for 100,000 people a day, they provided blankets, tarps, sleeping mats, tents and $500,000 worth of medical supplies were donated and the Catholic Relief handed out 181,439,948 kgs of food. This was an efficient method as they were able to provide enough services for everyone, and to those who didn’t have access, items were delivered to them.