1. Haiti earthquake
January 12th 2010

2. Location & place-making processes
Island located in North America- east of Jamaica
Low Income Country
145th out of 169 countries in the UN Human Development Index
86% of people in Port au Prince (the capital) living in slum conditions

3. Causes
Haiti lies on the conservative boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates
A slippage caused the releaseof energy from the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system
The epicentre was 25km west of Port au Prince
The earthquake had a magnitude of 7

4. Social impacts 3500000 people affected 300000+ people injured
people dead
houses damaged
houses destroyed
Over 1 million people became homeless
Children left without schools/education
Water brone illnesses became an issue

5. Economic impacts Many businesses destroyed
30000 commercial buildings collapsed
Severe damage to clothing industry which was responsible for over 2/3 of Haiti’s export
1 in 5 jobs were lost- socioeconomic issue

6. Environmental impacts
Haiti already had an issue with deforestation which caused other problems such as increased soil erosion- making all impacts of natural disasters significantly worse
Buildings were torn down leading to debris and an issue with waste management
Crops were lost
Chemicals and oil could have leaked out of storage however the focus was on helping people therefore no major environmental impacts were recorded

7. Political impacts 25% of civil servants in Port au Prince died
60% of government buildings destroyed/damaged
80% of schools destroyed/damaged
Damaged infrastructure- roads and seaports- made responses difficult

8. Short term responses
The Dominican Republic provided emergency water & medical supplies
Many emergency rescue teams from around the world helped Haiti- e.g Iceland
United Nations troops and police provided and distributed aid

9. Long term responses Rebuilding of schools
‘Cash for work’ scheme paid Haitians to clear rubble
Small farmers were supported financially to regrow crops
DEC Appeal raised £107million for Haiti
EU gave Haiti $330million
The World Bank waived Haiti’s debt repayments for 5 years
Literacy classes were ran for women

10. What can be done to decrease hazard risk in the future?
Prediction could trigger evacuation- seismometers
Higher frequency/previous earthquakes could increase preparation and therefore limit impact
Increased literacy rate could result in better understanding of warnings
A stable government and good planning laws
Better prediction technology and emergency agencies