Case studies

Haiti is part of a large Caribbean island called Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is located to the east of Haiti and covers over half of the island.It is a low income country.

What caused the earthquake

Haiti lies right on the boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates. There was slippage along a conservative plate boundary that runs through Haiti.

On 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti at 16:53 local time. The earthquake’s epicentre was 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, the capital. Most people, businesses and services were located in the capital.

Social impacts

• 3 million people affected.
• Over 220,000 deaths.
• 300,000 injured.
• 1.3 million made homeless.
• Several hospitals collapsed.

Economic impacts

• 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed.
• Businessess detroyed
• Damage to the main clothing industry.
• Airport and port damaged.

Many of the effects were immediate or primary, eg injuries from falling buildings. Some secondary effects didn’t happen until many months later, eg cholera outbreaks. The effects of this earthquake were particularly bad because of the following reasons:

• There were very few earthquake-resistant buildings.
• Buildings and other structures were poorly built.
• The epicentre was near to the capital.
• There were few resources to rescue or treat injured people.

• Emergency rescue teams arrived from a number of countries, eg Iceland.

• Medical teams began treating the injured – temporary field hospitals were set up by organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross.

• People from around the world watched the news from Haiti on TV and through social networks. Many pledged money over their mobile phones.

• GIS was used to provide satellite images and maps of the area, to assist aid organisations.

• United Nations troops and police were sent to help distribute aid and keep order.

• Neighbouring Dominican Republic provided emergency water and medical supplies as well as heavy machinery to help with search and rescue underneath the rubble, but most people were left to dig through the rubble by hand.

• Money was pledged by organisations and governments to assist in rebuilding, but only slow progress had been made after one year.

• After one year, there were still 1,300 camps.

• 'Cash for work’ programs are paying Haitians to clear rubble.

• Small farmers are being supported – so crops can be grown.

• Schools are being rebuilt.