Haiti Case Study
Haiti Case Study
Haiti is a small island, which is part of the Caribbean. It has a small population of around 10 million people. It is a very poor country with a GDP of 819.90.
Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake on 12th January 2010 causing devastation to the area due to the lack of preparation for such an event. The epicentre of the earthquake was just 25km away from the country’s capital, Port au Prince, meaning the most populated area in the country was hit.
Haiti is situated on a conservative boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates.
This is a table of impacts:
Social Impacts
Economic Impacts
3 million people were affected by the earthquake in some way
30,000 commercial buildings collapsed, a lot of these in the capital.
There were over 220,000 deaths, mainly caused by falling debris.
The industry was damaged meaning trade was ceased.
There were also 300,000 injuries on top of these deaths.
Airports and docks were destroyed limiting transport in and out of Haiti.
Over 1.3 million people were made homeless by the quake, which is almost 15% of the population.
Many industrial buildings were destroyed meaning trade was slower because of decreasing manufacturing rates.
4 hospitals were destroyed meaning it was harder to treat those who were ill and save preventable deaths.
Response
Due to Haiti being a very poor country, they were not prepared for this earthquake, i.e. there weren’t precautions taken for example earthquake proof buildings. This meant they didn’t have enough money to rebuild after the devastation and had to rely on income in the form of gift aid from other countries.
Primary:
The Dominican Republic supplied drinking water and machinery to help move debris in order to try and find survivors.
Emergency rescue teams arrived.
Money given from all over the world
Medics treated those who were injured.
Secondary: Camps set up for long-term shelter for those who lost their homes.
Haiti is a small island, which is part of the Caribbean. It has a small population of around 10 million people. It is a very poor country with a GDP of 819.90.
Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake on 12th January 2010 causing devastation to the area due to the lack of preparation for such an event. The epicentre of the earthquake was just 25km away from the country’s capital, Port au Prince, meaning the most populated area in the country was hit.
Haiti is situated on a conservative boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates.
This is a table of impacts:
Social Impacts
Economic Impacts
3 million people were affected by the earthquake in some way
30,000 commercial buildings collapsed, a lot of these in the capital.
There were over 220,000 deaths, mainly caused by falling debris.
The industry was damaged meaning trade was ceased.
There were also 300,000 injuries on top of these deaths.
Airports and docks were destroyed limiting transport in and out of Haiti.
Over 1.3 million people were made homeless by the quake, which is almost 15% of the population.
Many industrial buildings were destroyed meaning trade was slower because of decreasing manufacturing rates.
4 hospitals were destroyed meaning it was harder to treat those who were ill and save preventable deaths.
Response
Due to Haiti being a very poor country, they were not prepared for this earthquake, i.e. there weren’t precautions taken for example earthquake proof buildings. This meant they didn’t have enough money to rebuild after the devastation and had to rely on income in the form of gift aid from other countries.
Primary:
The Dominican Republic supplied drinking water and machinery to help move debris in order to try and find survivors.
Emergency rescue teams arrived.
Money given from all over the world
Medics treated those who were injured.
Secondary: Camps set up for long-term shelter for those who lost their homes.