Essay Sample on Haiti Earthquake

Introduction

The famous Haiti earthquake of the year 2010 was a large-scale tremor that took place on the 12th of January. The earthquake happened on the west island of Hispaniola affecting both the Dominican Republic and the Haiti countries. The reason the earthquake was named Haiti is that it most severely affected it; it occupied the western third of Haiti highland. The chaos resulted into a death toll that was highly crucial. According to Haitian count, the deaths were more than 30,000 people. According to research organizations such as NASA, the earthquake was a major one as it happened along the Hispaniola's major fault lines (Science Daily, 2010). The reason the study of the incident is important even after it happened is that it is not the last one to happen - one of the most effective ways of avoiding or reducing the effects of such events is by studying them based on past experiences. This study includes the study of the preparedness, the effects of the earthquake and the aftermath of the same. The study includes readings from what other researchers have studied regarding the earthquake, government reports on the same and media reports. It is important to study the mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery phases of the earthquake incident as a way of forming better strategies for dealing with such incidents in the future.

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Details of the Earthquake

The Earthquake started at exactly 4:53 PM, it started about 15 miles, that is twenty-five kilometres to the southwest of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The first shock of the earthquake registered a magnitude of seven and was soon followed by two other aftershocks of 5.5 and 5.9. More aftershocks were also registered in the days that followed. For instance, on the 20th of January, an aftershock of a magnitude of 5.9 was registered. This aftershock was registered in Petit Goave, which is a town located about 55 kilometres (35 miles) to the west of Port-au-Prince (Pallardy, 2018). The initial diagnosis by geologists indicated that the possible cause of the earthquake was the eastward Caribbean tectonic movement along a strike-slip fault system known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden, abbreviated as EPG. However, the claim of rapturing main stand of the system became null and void when no deformation at the surface was observed (Science Daily, 2010). The Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system forms what is known as a transform boundary that divides the Caribbean Plate from the Gonave microplate, also known as the fragment of North American Plate where Haiti is situated (Pallardy, 2018).

It was later found out that the earthquake was as a result of constructional deformation that happened along the Leogane fault, which is a small thrust fault, hidden underneath of the city of Leogane. The Leogane fault descends northwards; away from the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. This fault cannot be observed. According to many geologists, the earthquake was as a result of slippage of rock upwards across its fracture plane. The earthquake was considered as fairly shallow since it occurred at a depth of 13 kilometres (8.1 miles), and it increased the degree at which the surface of the earth vibrated. The shock of the earthquake was not only felt throughout Haiti but also the Dominican Republic. The shock also extended to some parts of the nearby countries such as Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. The effects of the earthquake such as deaths, destruction of properties and displacement of persons were experienced in almost all the countries it affected. Some people even abandoned their homes due to fear, therefore becoming refugees. The death toll caused by the earthquake is considered one of the worst ever registered in the country as it happened within a short period. For instance, the earthquake hit some of the most densely populated areas in the country such as Port-au-Prince, which is located on the Gulf of Gonave. The fact that densely populated areas were attacked increased the gravity of the issues as many victims could not be saved. Other places that were heavily hit was at the farther south of Jacmel City as well as the city of Leogane, which is to the west. The fact that the earthquake found most of its victims unaware led to massive destructions that could not be rescued. Again, it is important to note that an earthquake is a natural occurrence, whose damages cannot be stopped. The only way to save the victims was to move them away from the areas that could be established as risky. However, it is usually impossible to establish all the areas at risk. Therefore, such incidences of natural occurrences cause deaths of tens of thousands of people depending on its magnitude and the population density of the areas they hit. The map below shows the areas affected by the earthquake. The different colors show the severity of the magnitude.

Figure 1: Map of Haiti during the Earthquak. (Source: US Dept. of State)

People's Awareness

The lack of preparedness was due to the fact that such strong earthquake or any major natural disaster had not been witnessed in the country in more than 100 years. Despite of the warnings from local scientists, government officials failed to notify the public (The Australian, 2010). In fact, as the earthquake strikes, most of the victims ran back into their houses, not knowing that it was more dangerous than being in open spaces with no structures. The only incidences that the people were aware of were hurricanes. Preparation such as evacuations could have reduced the number of people who died as well as those who sustained injuries. However, since the population had no preparations at all, the effects of the earthquake were massive and uncontrolled. If the population were aware of the possibility of the earthquake, it is possible that they would have carried out drills and training on what to do in case it came. Some of the emergency preparation that would have been put into place would have included means of transport that would urgently move people from the at-risk areas. One of the reasons the earthquake caused so much destruction and death of people is because it was unexpected. The region has not experienced any serious episode of the earthquake, at least not of such a huge magnitude since the eighteenth century (Pallardy, 2018). The only serious earthquake that was almost of the same magnitude happened in the year 1984 with a magnitude of 6.9. Another serious earthquake in the history of the Dominican Republic took place in the year 1946 with a magnitude of 8.0 (Pallardy, 2018).

Vulnerability

One of the vulnerability factors to be considered is poverty; Haiti is among the world's poorest nations. Tied to poverty is the overpopulation, which is another factor that made the people more vulnerable to the effects of the earthquake. Before the earthquake, up to 72 percent of the population was living on less than two dollars in a day. The country had no army and only two stations for firefighting. The fact that the country had little resources made it impossible for an effective response to the emergency that included the need to rescue people from rabbles, put out the fire in some of the buildings that went on flames and offer health care emergency responses. To make the problem worse, the few clinics and hospitals in the country were destroyed; these also included the only three aid centres in the country, which were under the management of Medecins sans Frontieres. Another thing that made the population even more vulnerable was the shortage of doctors as such most of the people who sustained injuries such as broken limbs could not get urgent doctor attention. The vulnerability resulted in the loss of up to one hundred and six thousand homes. Many more homes were also destroyed leading to homelessness, displacement and the need for foreign aid. One fact that became clear after the earthquake was that the Haitians were neither aware nor prepared to handle the effects of the massive and destructive earthquake.

Varying Vulnerability Factors

The factors that led to vulnerability varied, for instance, gender, age, physiological factors became key to vulnerability. The elderly, children, and pregnant women were most vulnerable as they could not engage in physical activities such as escaping from the approaching danger (Groupe URD, n.d.). Political institutions that would have helped reduce the effects of the earthquake were already weak even before the earthquake hit the country. Some of the political factors that made the country more vulnerable included years of violence, corruption, and political instability (Groupe URD, n.d.). The earthquake devastated the capital more by destroying the essential staff and buildings that were used by the governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations. Environmental factors also made the country more vulnerable to the effects of the Earthquake, for instance, the fact that the country was overpopulated led to massive deforestation and destruction of trees and ground cover on steep slopes. This caused a lot of mudslides and encouraged flooding. In fact, the country had been susceptible to hurricanes before the earthquake, for instance, in the year 2008, four hurricanes had hit the country. Physical factors such as building codes also became key in defining the vulnerability of the country to the effects of the earthquake. Due to the fact that most of the people in the country could barely afford quality food, they, most certainly, could not afford to build houses to the standards required by the building codes. In comparison to the other countries that exist near fault lines, very few buildings were constructed in Haiti to standards that could stand an earthquake, let alone a massive earthquake like the one that hit the country in the year 2010. In fact, during the incident, the buildings became death traps as opposed to shelter for people to escape death and injury.

Figure 2: Poverty in Haiti before the Earthquake. (Source: britannica.com)

Recovery and Emergency Phase

According to the estimation that was done, about three million people were affected by the earthquake. This is nearly one-third of the total population of the country. Among the three million, one million people were homeless after the aftermath of the quake. In urban areas where the quake occurred, the displaced victims lost their properties and were forced to move to shelters where they were provided for materials and tents. After the earthquake, robbing started to occur in the urban areas in the absence of sufficient supplies and was worsened in the capital by thousand prisoners who escaped from their various prisons. The second week after the earthquake, the city residents started to stream into outlying areas (Mix, Kijewski-Correa and Taflanidis, 2011). The land was donated by the government as relocation sites; the victims also chose their own desire areas. This was engineered to ease the crowded and unhealthy conditions. The quake also affe...