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1 Source: At 16:53, on Wednesday, January 12th, 2010, a devastating 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake left Haiti with death, destruction and fear. Around 230,000 people died due to the earthquake. The earthquake, which once was just a fear, became a catastrophic disaster. Why was the Haitian earthquake so deadly when there has been many worse magnitude earthquakes elsewhere, with much less impact? How the earthquake happened Haiti s location makes it very prone to earthquakes and this hazard could potentially occur at any time. Haiti is located in the Caribbean next to two plate boundaries, Caribbean and North American. These two plates are part of the main plates making up our earth today. Earthquakes typically occur along plate boundaries because the plates move independent of each other and create pressure. This pressure is released in the form of an earthquake.

2 Why was the Haitian Earthquake so deadly? Many countries are placed along plate boundaries, such as Japan and the Philippines. There are three type of plate movements, divergent (when the two plates move opposite of each other), convergent (when the two plate push against each other causing the earth to make mountains), and lastly transforming (when the plates slide/grind against each other) The following picture shows the three type of plate movements, along with where they are located in the Caribbean.

3 The image above shows all three types of plate boundaries surround Haiti and it is between the Caribbean and the North American plates. As stated before, this makes Haiti very prone to all three types of plate movements. The above picture shows a visible crack on the earth where the pressure is released known as a fault. The red circles located towards Port-au-Prince are the epicenter. An epicenter is the center point where the earthquake originated. As you can see the fault line (the purple line) goes right through the epicenter of the earthquake. Since a major city, Port-au-Price, was at the epicenter, the effects of the earthquake were severe. Haiti's history and its affect on the earthquake Haiti s history played a large role in the destruction of the 2010 earthquake. In 1825, Haiti was under threat of invasion from France for using land, which France owned. Haiti agreed to compensate France for the use of the property. This created a debt (when you owe someone money because you previously borrowed), which took 120 years to repay and left a cycle of debt and instability. Basically, the years of debt made Haiti s economic development impossible to improve and a good infrastructure was not created. Also, in 2008, four earthquakes occurring in Haiti created more than a billion dollars of damage, further adding to Haiti s poverty and leaving less money for education and disaster preparedness.

4 How damage could have been avoided Knowing how bad the damage of the earthquake was on Haiti, was there a way Haiti could have been more prepared? When comparing the Haitian earthquake to other earthquakes around the world it was very tragic. The March 11th Tohoku earthquake was a 9.0 on the Richter scale and still did not cause as much damage as in Haiti. This is because Haiti was not prepared for the earthquake. Japan had gone through a process called risk mitigation, which is where the government or country educates the citizens on what to do during disasters, including an evacuation plan and educating on what to do and how to be prepared in case of a disaster. Japan residents know they are in a zone where earthquakes can often occur, therefore, they act upon this information. This is called risk assessment. Knowing Japan is more likely to have earthquakes, buildings have been built so they can move freely when the ground moves and sway rather than tipping over and collapsing. Japan has the funds to create buildings with these features. Unfortunately, Haiti did not have the money or resources to properly educate, build buildings, and prepare for earthquakes. If Haiti had gone through the steps of risk assessment and risk mitigation the damage could have been greatly reduced. Another item that played a role in the amount of damage is Haiti being a LEDC (Less Economically Developed Country). The following are a few indicators, which show Haiti is an LEDC. GDP per capita (Gross Domestic Product per Capita, how much money on average a person earns in a year) Life expectancy (the average life span of a person) Literacy rate (the percentage of people who can read and write) The GDP per capita in Haiti is $1,200, whereas in a MEDC (More Economically Developed Country), such as Norway, the GDP is $53,3000. This is just one of the factors that shows there is not enough money to take the actions needed to reduce the impact of an earthquake. Haiti s life expectancy is around 63-years-old, which is not low but yet is not in the MEDC range. This low life expectancy shows a high value is not put on health and safety, which is a key component of disaster preparedness. Haiti has a very low literacy rate with only 52.9 percent of Haitians being able to read and write. This is a very low number as a Norway has nearly a 100 percent literacy rate. If the Haitians do not know how to read, they may not be able to understand the earthquake preparedness booklets. This puts Haitians in very dangerous situations. They will not know where to go, and what actions to take if such a disaster were to occur. All of these indicators have a huge effect on the damage from the earthquake. If Haiti s level of development were higher, even if Haiti was considered an NIC (Newly Industrialized Country), the damage would not have been as bad. Not only would the damage have been less, but the death toll as well. In conclusion, yes, Haiti could have been more prepared and reduced the amount of damage.

5 Impact of the earthquake on people The main reason the death toll was so high at 230,000, was because of the time the earthquake occurred. The time of day a disaster occurs plays a huge role in the damage done to an area. For example, if a disaster occurs at 6 AM, families would be together, therefore, children can easily be watched over. If the disaster occurs at 2AM then the death toll may increase, as people would be asleep and would have slow reaction when realizing what is happening. The time of day can greatly affect a person s vulnerability, a person s susceptibility to a situation. The Haitian earthquake occurred at 16:53 pm. At this time children were at school, parents were at work, people were out on a stroll, and families were apart. The child at school may be in a classroom with one or two adults and 15 other children. This makes it very hard for the adults to look after all of the children at such a terrible time. It is easy to lose a child or for a child to get hurt. If the child is with their parents, they will do anything and everything to protect them and keep them safe. If a child is with their teacher it is possible the teacher is trying to keep track of multiple children at one time or trying their best to keep themself safe rather than the students. The only time the Haiti earthquake could have been worse was if it was rush hour. During rush hour everyone is separate. Lets look at an example of a family of three two parents and one child. At rush hour the child is most likely to be alone and on their way home from school. The mom is probably at home, and the father is at work. At this time the whole family is separate. If an earthquake were to happen the child would not be watched over, the father and mother would be alone. If this were to occur each family member would be distracted because they are worried about the rest of their family rather than focusing on themselves. This is just one example of how the time can affect the death toll after a disaster. The end of the disaster As explained, there are many factors relating to Why was the Haitian earthquake so deadly. All of these factors, including Haiti s location, poverty level, preparedness and time of day, played a large role in making the Haitian earthquake one of the most devastating earthquakes in history. Today, Haiti is still recovering from the terrible disaster. The main lesson to be learned from this devastating disaster is to always be prepared.