Case Study: Earthquake in an LIDC - Haiti

Describe the physical setting of Haiti

• Conservative plate boundary - Between the Caribbean and Cocos plate

• Rayleigh and Love waves

• Geology - Sedimentary rock (weaker)

• Last deadly earthquake was in 1770 - built up pressure caused 2 metres in movement

What is the GDP per capita in Haiti?

US$1693

What is Haiti’s HDI?

0.552

What percentage of the population live on less than $2.15 per day?

36%

What is the human geography of Haiti?

• Poorest country in Latin America and one of the poorest countries in the world.

• Weak economic activity and insecurity offset tighter customs administration.

• Due to political insecurity, violence - capital expenditure slow significantly, leading to a lack of services.

When was the Haiti earthquake?

January 2010

What was the magnitude?

7.0

What was the magnitude of the two aftershocks?

5.9, 5.5 respectively

Where was the location of the epicentre and focus?

The epicentre was at Leogane about 15km south-west from the capital.

What type of earthquake focus was it?

Shallow focus

What were the immediate social impacts?

• 222,572 deaths

• Destruction of buildings: 293,383

• Parliament was destroyed

• Hospitals were overcrowded

• 90% of Port-au-Prince’s schools were destroyed.

• 1.5 million homeless

• Looting occurred as the police couldn’t control the crowds

• Only 3 refugee camps had potable water

• City’s main port was destroyed and phonelines failed immediately

• 2.4 million were displaced

• Value of damages: $7.8 billion

What were the economic impacts?

• Less workers means Haiti’s economy stagnated

• Total cost of damage was 120% of the country’s GDP

• Costs in the US was $12 billion

• Rebuilding costs around $11.5bn, taking 5-10 years to recover

What were the environmental impacts?

• Agriculture was highly affected, with farms and crops being damaged, causing food supply shortages.

• Broken electricity cables started wild fires

• Damaged storage supplies meant that Haiti’s water supply was polluted

What was the political situation and impact?

• Many key government personnel died in the quake and there was no place for the parliament to meet and coordinate a response.

• NGOs may encourage corruption and public distrust in the govt if they refuse to work with them.

What role did NGOs play in the aftermath of the earthquake?

• NGOs can have competing priorities, some wanting to make headline progress with new buildings, others wanting to clear rubble.

• They work independently, so various plans for the whole city because progress was slow.

• 1 NGO cannot rebuild the infrastructure and tries to work with the govt.

How many NGOs were there in Haiti?

6000 different NGOs

Why were their limits to trying to mitigate against vulnerability?

Due to the poor levels of education

How did Haitian government attempt to mitigate against losses in the short term?

• 18 hospitals and emergency clinics began working in the capital. The injured were sent to the Dominican Republic.

• There was no disaster response or prepared - the government didn’t address the people (lack of leadership)

• Initial searching was done by manually lifting rubble, as no heavy lifting gear was available. Aid agency staff in the area had to look for their own families so they weren’t apart of any coordinated response.

How did Haitian government attempt to mitigate against losses in the long term?

An efficient, one stop shop must be established for businesses, such as community resources centres - a census to help with response scale.

How did international community attempt to mitigate against losses in the long term?

• Locals working with the UN to remove the rubble - 40% removed in 2 years. Training people to build earthquake resistant buildings.

• Reconstruction of Port-au-Prince - cleaning roads.

How did the international community attempt to mitigate in the short term?

• The US army and navy sent 5,500 troops and six US military ships.

• The UN launched an appeal for $562 million, to help 3 million people for six months. The World Food Programme appealed to donors for 14 million ration packs - enough to feed 2 million people for a month.

• The World Bank suspended Haiti’s debt for five years and were going to suspend it entirely - finances focused on recovery

• The US reopened ports, two in Haiti and two in the DR, to allow for aid.

• UN sent peacekeepers to help keep law and order

• Mapping by NGOs of damage

What were the limitations of the response to mitigate against the losses in the short term?

• The destruction of transport, communications, civil offices and the loss of personnel isolated Haiti - not coordinated.

• The lack of preparation means that the attempts to mitigate loss were chaotic and failed.

• The US flights couldn’t take off due to lack of space to land and fuel for return.

What were the main reasons for the scale of the disaster?

• Governance - poor governance meant that there was no coordinated response. Mapping the area was difficult, so NGOs had to go off the most severe areas. Buildings regulations were non-existent and there were no food resources.

• Poverty - lack of education and poverty is the core reason why buildings fell and chaos erupted and no clear evacuation plan.