Haiti Earthquake
Overview:
At 16:53 local time on 12 January 2010, the nation of Haiti exploded into chaos as an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the LEDC: the first in over two centuries. The epicentre of the quake was located near the town of Leogane, and was 25 kilometres away from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city. Before the earthquake materialised, Haiti was an extremely poor country; in fact, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 70% of the population lived on under US$2 a day, and a substantial 86% lived in slum conditions. The occurrence of the earthquake, however, only worsened these undesirable issues.
Causes:
Haiti lies on the northern border of the Caribbean plate, which neighbours the North American plate. A conservative margin exists between the two plates, and as the Caribbean plate slides eastwards at just more than half a centimetre a year, friction causes large jolts; one such jolt causing the earthquake in 2010. The lack in major quakes for the past 200 years suggests that the pressure had been building for quite a long period of time, resulting in a strong and devastating quake. The fact the epicentre was quite shallow meant that more energy was released, in turn inflicting greater damage.
Impacts:
The earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude buffeted the most densely populated area on Haiti, with an estimated 220,000 deaths, and a further 300,000 injuries. In terms of buildings, most constructions were not built to be earthquake-resistant, and so were utterly destroyed, leaving a tremendous 1.5 million inhabitants homeless. A total of 290,000 houses were ravaged, and over 60% of Port-au-Prince's governmental and administrative buildings were destroyed or damaged, along with another 4,000 schools, with Haiti's education level already being steeply below average in the past. By the end of the quake, 19 million cubic metres of rubble remained. To make matters worse, aftershocks reaching up to magnitudes of over 5 on the Richter scale continued to harass Haiti. Doctors were in severe shortage, leading to many people dying because of injuries such as broken and bleeding limbs. Over 600,000 populants left their homes in Port-au-Prince to live with host families.
At 16:53 local time on 12 January 2010, the nation of Haiti exploded into chaos as an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the LEDC: the first in over two centuries. The epicentre of the quake was located near the town of Leogane, and was 25 kilometres away from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city. Before the earthquake materialised, Haiti was an extremely poor country; in fact, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 70% of the population lived on under US$2 a day, and a substantial 86% lived in slum conditions. The occurrence of the earthquake, however, only worsened these undesirable issues.
Causes:
Haiti lies on the northern border of the Caribbean plate, which neighbours the North American plate. A conservative margin exists between the two plates, and as the Caribbean plate slides eastwards at just more than half a centimetre a year, friction causes large jolts; one such jolt causing the earthquake in 2010. The lack in major quakes for the past 200 years suggests that the pressure had been building for quite a long period of time, resulting in a strong and devastating quake. The fact the epicentre was quite shallow meant that more energy was released, in turn inflicting greater damage.
Impacts:
The earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude buffeted the most densely populated area on Haiti, with an estimated 220,000 deaths, and a further 300,000 injuries. In terms of buildings, most constructions were not built to be earthquake-resistant, and so were utterly destroyed, leaving a tremendous 1.5 million inhabitants homeless. A total of 290,000 houses were ravaged, and over 60% of Port-au-Prince's governmental and administrative buildings were destroyed or damaged, along with another 4,000 schools, with Haiti's education level already being steeply below average in the past. By the end of the quake, 19 million cubic metres of rubble remained. To make matters worse, aftershocks reaching up to magnitudes of over 5 on the Richter scale continued to harass Haiti. Doctors were in severe shortage, leading to many people dying because of injuries such as broken and bleeding limbs. Over 600,000 populants left their homes in Port-au-Prince to live with host families.
<--- Destruction caused by quake
<--- Destruction caused by quake
<--- Caribbean/North American plate boundary