A case study document on the Haiti Earthquake. A good revision resource for the geography topic of earth hazards.

1. MatthewMortimer
Haiti Earthquake
Location: Haiti is part of a large CaribbeanislandcalledHispaniola.The DominicanRepublicis
locatedto the eastof Haiti and coversoverhalf of the island.
Causes
Haiti liesrightonthe boundaryof the CaribbeanandNorth
Americanplates.There wasslippagealongaconservative plate
boundarythat runsthroughHaiti. On 12 January2010, a magnitude
7 earthquake hitHaiti at16:53 local time.The earthquake’s
epicentre was25 km westof Port-au-Prince,the capital.Most
people,businessesandserviceswerelocatedinthe capital.
Social Impacts
 3 millionpeopleaffected.
 Over220,000 deaths.
 300,000 injured.
 1.3 millionmade homeless.
 Several hospitalscollapsed.
 Economicimpactsof the earthquake
 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed.
 Businessesdestroyed.
 Damage to the mainclothingindustry.
 Airportand portdamaged.
Many of the effects were primary, forexample injuriesfromfallingbuildings.Some secondary
effectsdidn’thappenuntil manymonthslater, suchas choleraoutbreaks.The effectsof the
earthquake were particularlybadbecause of the followingreasons:
 There were veryfewearthquake-resistantbuildings.
 Buildingsandotherstructureswere poorlybuilt.
 The epicentre wasnearto the capital.
 There were fewresourcestorescue ortreat injuredpeople.
 Response tothe earthquake
Haiti is a verypoor countrywithoutthe moneyandresourcestoredevelop.Itisone of the least
developedcountriesinthe worldwithmostHaitianslivingon$2 or lessperday,about £1.30.
Because there were fewearthquake-resistantbuildings,the devastationwasmassive.Many
buildingssimplycollapsedorwere damagedbeyondrepair.
Primary responses
NeighbouringDominicanRepublicprovidedemergencywaterandmedical suppliesaswell asheavy
machinerytohelpwithsearchandrescue underneaththe rubble,butmostpeoplewere leftto dig
throughthe rubble byhand. Emergencyrescue teamsarrivedfroma numberof countries.Medical
teamsbegantreatingthe injured –temporaryfieldhospitalsweresetupbyorganisationslike the

2. MatthewMortimer
International Committee of the RedCross. GISwas usedto provide satelliteimagesandmapsof the
area,to assistaid organisations. Peoplefromaroundthe worldwatchedthe newsfromHaiti onTV
and through social networks.Manypledged moneyovertheirmobile phones. UnitedNationstroops
and police were senttohelpdistribute aidandkeeporder.
Secondary responses
Moneywas pledgedbyorganisationsandgovernmentstoassistin
rebuilding,butonlyslowprogresshadbeenmade afterone year.
Afterone year,there were still 1,300 camps. ‘Cashfor work’
programsare payingHaitianstoclear rubble. Small farmersare
beingsupported–so crops can be grown. Schoolsare being
rebuilt.