Earthquake - Haiti January 12th 2010

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  • Earthquake - Haiti January 12th 2010
    • Haiti is situated between North and South America, the Western Atlantic, the Carribbean
    • Cause
      • Friction built up between North American and Caribbean plates causing a slip releasing powerful seismic waves
    • Effects
      • Primary
        • Affected around 3 million people, 250,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries
        • 250,000 homes destroyed, 1.5 million homeless
        • Severe damage to all hospitals, airports, ports and roads
      • Secondary
        • Over 3,333 people died in outbreak of cholera
        • Cost of damage = £30 billion
        • 2 years on, 20% of rubble cleared, 500,000 still homeless, millions still in poverty
    • Why were effects so bad?
      • Nature of EQ
        • Epicentre only 9 miles away from capital where 2 million lived
        • Magnitude 7
        • Occured at 5pm
        • 6 large aftershocks
        • No large EQ for over 200 years
        • Focus = 6 miles deep
      • Country's background
        • 70% of people live on less than $2 per day, half unemployed
        • Not fully recovered from previous hurricane
        • Violent conflict
        • LEDC
      • Levels of prep
        • Building quality poor
        • Country lacked heavy lifting equipment 'pancaked buildings'
      • Poor ability of country to cope after
        • Electricity supplies cut off
        • Port out of use
        • Roads destroyed
        • No communication lines
        • No doctors/medicine
        • 1 working runway
        • Roads slow and blocked
        • Staff of aid agencies died
    • Responses
      • Immediate
        • People dug through bare rubble with hands to try and rescue people
        • Only a fraction of aid promised actually arrived
        • Supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine started to arrive after a week
          • 400,000 homeless people relocated to organised camps
        • Over 40 foreign search and rescue and medical teams arrived
      • Long term
        • 1.5 million people set up homes in the street
        • 16,000 US troops deployed to issue emergency aid and repair the airport
        • After 2 years, 20% rubble cleared and 70,000 homes built

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