Haiti

Background

• Haiti is a low-income country (LIC)

• Very poor infrastructure and weak government

• Rapid urbanisation → many people live in unsafe, densely packed slums

• Limited emergency services and healthcare capacity

Causes:

• Occurred at a conservative (transform) plate boundary

• Between the Caribbean Plate and North American Plate

• Plates locked → pressure builds → sudden release → earthquake

• Shallow focus (~13km) → stronger surface shaking

Primary Effects:

• ~230,000 deaths, 300,000 injured

• ~1.3 million made homeless

• 250,000 homes and 30,000 buildings destroyed

• Hospitals, schools, and government buildings collapsed

• 3 million people affected

Secondary Effects:

• 2 million people without food and water

• Cholera outbreak → thousands more deaths

• Crime and looting increased, prisons damaged → 4,000 prisoners escaped

• People forced into temporary camps

• Long-term instability and slow recovery

• 16 YEARS LATER -> HAITI IN RUINS -> NO GOVERNMENT -> PRESIDENT ASSASSINATED IN 2021

Immediate Responses (short-term):

• Aid delayed due to damaged port, roads, and airport

• USA sent 10,000 troops + rescue teams

• Emergency aid: food, water, medical supplies

• 235,000 people relocated from Port-au-Prince

• International donations (e.g. UK £20 million)

Long Term Responses :

• Heavy reliance on international aid and NGOs

• Rebuilding homes (often slowly and unevenly)

• Port reconstruction to restart trade

• Many still in temporary shelters after 1 year

• USA allowed some Haitians to stay temporarily

Why was Haiti's impact so severe?

• Shallow earthquake → Seismic waves travel a smaller distance -> Maintains more energy -> stronger surface shaking

• Poor building quality → widespread collapse -> Not designed to be earthquake resistant

• High population density in Port-au-Prince

• Lack of preparedness and planning

• Slow emergency response due to weak infrastructure

• Poortest country in the WESTERN HEMISPHERE reliant on overseas response