Earthquake Case studies- Japan // Haiti

• Friday March 11th 2011, 250km from Sendai
• Fault on boundary between Pacific and North American Plate, caused plates to move over 10m. Destructive plate boundary under ocean, unsmooth contact surfaces, pressure builds up over time, sudden slip of earthquake.
• Magnitude - 9.0 with a focus 250km from Sendai.

• 6,000 people died
• 27,074 people injured
• 100,000 buildings destroyed with over 15,000 households in north without electricity. 170,000 households in 8 cities without running water.
• Port city of Kboe, world's 6th largest container port damaged.
• 400,000 homeless
• 163,000 people living in shelters following evacuation
• 15,153 people missing.

• Limited economic growth of only 1-1.5% per year, 1990-2000 referred to as 'lost decade'
• Lack of investments in industry as banks diverted money towards paying down 'bad' loans.
• Persistent deflation and falling prices, discourages customers buying items.
• Damage to infrastruscture, businesss and housing estimated cost of $100 billion (2% of Japan's GDP)

Nuclear disaster resulted in 3 types of pollution:

1) AIR- radiation from 2 reactors

2) GROUND- radioactive dust, local foods (milk, spinach) showed radiation levels 7x higher than legal limit. Carried by dominant winds to Asian continent. Land close to reactors banned from growing foods.

3) WATER- water sprayed to cool reactors percolated through ground rock - 300 tonnes of contaminated water still pouring into Pacific everyday 2 yrs later. 70 fishermen in Hisanohama have't fished once, make money by collecting debris.

• Intially meteorlogical agency released tsunami and earthquake warnings 15 prior- national system installed in 2007 info from more than 1000 seismogrpahs- automatic messages.
• Tsunami defence- 40% of coastline protected with concerete walls, break waters meant to reduce impact - Kamaishi Tsunami protection breakwater world's deepest breakwater, $1.5billion
• International effort to organise search and rescue teams within hours
• 300,000-350 people evaucuated
• Japanese red cross- 62 respsonse teams within 24 hours, included 400 personnel.
• Received help from 116 countries and 28 international organisation.
• Used GIS, grid maps of collapsed buildings that needed to be searched- necessary to stop secondary effects (fire/ water contamination)
• Pacific tsunami centre provided geolocated warnings from data provided by NOAAs national weather service. Google created crisis response map- UCLA created website so all could be accessed in one site.
• Planning restrictions - reinforced walls, foundation slbas, shock-absorbing special reinforcements in medical buildings. Sept 1st disaster prevention awareness day- education and responses.

• Much of the 40% of coastline protection was inadequate and was affected by Japan sinking one metre after the earthquake.
• Many felt country was protected to extent that they became complacent and believed that they didn't need to do anything.

• January 12th 2010
• Carribbean and North American Plates- conserative fault. Focus only 10km below earth's surface, energy concentrated when it reached Port-au-Prince.
• Area mainly composed of sedimentary rock-prone to shaking.

• 222,570 people died
• Over 300,000 people injured.
• Electricity supplies disrupted, roads blocked (some still locked for 10 days after quake)
• International airpot unusable due to control tower damage.
• Public telephne system knocked out with no mobile phone or internet signal.
• Hospitals and clinics destroyed.
• 180,000 homes damaged//destroyed.
• 1.5 million left homeless
• 19 million cubic metres of debris, 1 yr later only 5% cleared.
• Island prison damaged, 4,000 inmates escaped.

• 1.5 million people living in camps, including over 100,000 at ciritical risk from storms and flooding.  Over 1100 camps.
• Mid Oct- Cholera = by Jan 2011 3889 deaths.
• Over 600,000 people left their home area within PaP adn moved within Haiti.
• 4000 schools damaged
• 1 in 5 jobs lost as result of earthquake
• 1/4 of all civil servants died

• Despite spread of Cholera, aid agencies prepared- supplies of drugs, makeshift hospitals and clinics, hygeine education and info campaigns organised.
• Aid agencies and gov- worked together to establish priorities- rebuilding infrastructure and involving locals and local knowledge.
• Disaster Emergency Committee ensured that has not spent all money raised in emergency appeal, conserved money to support locals in country over next 2-3 years of rebuilding.
• Haiti gov handed control of airpor to US
• Relief teams- within 24hrs medical team arrived from Iceland. Israel adn Qatar send teams to set up field hospitals.
• American red cross US$7 million in 24 hrs. Total of $10 milion given in aid from USA.
• Support for unemplted, nearly 70% of population, through cash/ food for work projects.

• Before quake 86% living in slum conditions. Lack of building regulations wih many houses not having adequate foundations
• Many in gov, emergency services and aid organisation dying hindered efforts to rescue and reconstruct.
• Could cholera outbreak have been stopped?
• Delays in aid distribution- looting and occasional violence.
• Roads not cleared, few days later 98% of rubble on raods hadn't been cleared restricting access.
• No phone signal
• Airport closed- difficulty in getting suplies in.
• British search and rescue- 1st to reach Leogange 5 days after.
• Corpses not moved, started to decompose in rubble and smell.
• Argued only 1.2 of relief aid has been released and his has been used as debt relief rather than helping local people and those affected.
• Do not have legitimate gov to deal with rebuilding.
• 1yr after earthquake, 1million+ people still living in tented camps established after eathquake, lack of incentive to leace camps and reports of sexual violence increasing.