Case Study- Haiti

- Tuesday 12th January 2010

- 7.1 magnitude earthquake

- Hit north side of island at 16:53

- Transform boundary between North American plate and Caribbean plate

- Focus was shallow, 8 miles deep

- Epicentre located close to Port-Au-Prince which is the capital

- Haiti has a population of 200,000

- Earthquake hit the North side of the island

- Transform boundary between North American plate and Caribbean plate

- 5,000 schools collapsed

- Power and water supplies lost

- Infrastructure completely destroyed

- 3 million people affected

- 5,000 children orphaned

- 70% buildings destoryed

- 200,000 people killed

- 59 recorded aftershocks

- Thousands at risk of diseases, particually Cholera

- 1.5 million people homeless

- US donated millions of $ in aid

- Temporary tent cities set up for the homeless

- Haiti hasn't got strict building regulations, many people were crushed inside buildings due to the pancake effect

- Loose sediment amplified the seismic waves

- Lack of building regulations

- LEDCs like Haiti cannot afford earthquake predicition equipment

-Soft sand of the river basin caused many structres to fall into the river and harbour

- Lack of steel rods in the building structure caused the conrete to crumble and buildings to collapse