HAITI- EARTHQUAKE JAN 2010
Background:
HDI of 0.471 in 2014
96% at risk from deaths of two hazards
80% are below the Bank poverty line
51.2% fertility rate- growing population numbers
Life expectancy is 62.8 years, the world’s lowest 10%
Population of 11.45 million in 2021
Total GDP of $20.94 bn USD in 2021
GDP per capita of $1,829.59 USD in 2021 and most peoples incomes are reliant on remittance
(32% of GDP)
Poorest country in the western hemisphere and least developed
Agriculture is 27.9% of GDP by sector
13.2% unemployed
Government debt is 31.1% of GDP
Physical causes:
Sits on a fault line between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.
The Earthquake occurred on a conservative boundary- creating a magnitude of 7
Caused by a slip in the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, caused a thrust of 1.8m, destroying 60%
of the capital.
Focus was 13km (8.1 miles below Earth’s surface)
Epicentre near the town of Léogâne, 25km away from Port-au-Prince (capital)
Multi-hazard hotspot: hit by 4 storms in one month (2008)
Las major earthquake was in 1942
Primary impacts:
Large swaths of forest have been cut down for charcoal, leading to denuded mountains. The lack
of trees, that roots bind the soil together, increases the landslide hazards following rainfall.
200,000 deaths
188,000 homes damaged
19 million tonnes of rubble and debris produced
Cholera outbreak
Aid:
MSF provided 28,000 tents, 85,000 emergency kits, saving 20,000 lives
USA sent rescue teams of 10,000 troops
UK govt sent £20 million in aid
Dominican Republic first to send aid such as water, food, heavy lifting machinery also allowed
crossing the border to receive treatment from their hospitals.
The UN lost 100 personnel in the earthquake and NGOS could not put a plan together
The World Bank helped them clear half of their debt and giving 5 years to repay the other half
The World Bank helped community projects to rebuild homes in local communities, but only in
some areas.
, Secondary impacts:
Aid was slow to arrive, due to airport damage rescue teams around the world took 48 hours to
enter Haiti.
The port was unusable because of damage and so was the control tower and the only runway.
Aid piled up at the airport due to lack of transport, so food and water took days to arrive
3 million live in slums because of rapid urbanisation so homes and buildings weren’t built to
survive these events beforehand
Shortages of doctors meant that people died from having injuries like broken limbs.
1.5 million left homeless
HAITI- HURRICANE TOMAS OCT 2010
Tomas developed from a tropical wave east of the Windward Islands
Tomas quickly weakened to a tropical storm in the central Caribbean Sea, due to strong wind
shear and dry air. Tomas later intensified into a hurricane near the Windward passage.
44 fatalities
Flooding exacerbated the cholera outbreak and caused landslides has now killed more than 442
people here.
Flooding was ankle level
Overall damage from the storm was $463.4 million.
85 mph wind speed
Category 2
The storm moved to Cuba
Caused some fatalities in St Lucia
The Haitian government issued an orange storm alert, one level short of the highest state of
alert, and warned for the possibility of winds, thunderstorms, and flooding.
The UN reported that Tomas affected the agriculture sector the most severely. Fields were
flooded, crops destroyed, and livestock were also affected.
Shelters were swept away by strong winds and rains and falling rock have cut off several roads
and led to the deaths of many animals.
Tomas damaged the coffee crop and other crops such as bananas.
800 workers from save the children already located there for aid
EYJAFJALLAJUKUL VOLCANO- ICELAND
Background:
Consists of a stratovolcano that is covered by ice caps covering 100sq km.
Erupted between March and May 2010
Big E is within a chain of volcanoes in the SE rift zone
Located on the mid Atlantic ridge, where a constructive plate margin separating the N. American
and Eurasian plate, moving by ridge push along the mid-Atlantic ridge.
Background:
HDI of 0.471 in 2014
96% at risk from deaths of two hazards
80% are below the Bank poverty line
51.2% fertility rate- growing population numbers
Life expectancy is 62.8 years, the world’s lowest 10%
Population of 11.45 million in 2021
Total GDP of $20.94 bn USD in 2021
GDP per capita of $1,829.59 USD in 2021 and most peoples incomes are reliant on remittance
(32% of GDP)
Poorest country in the western hemisphere and least developed
Agriculture is 27.9% of GDP by sector
13.2% unemployed
Government debt is 31.1% of GDP
Physical causes:
Sits on a fault line between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.
The Earthquake occurred on a conservative boundary- creating a magnitude of 7
Caused by a slip in the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, caused a thrust of 1.8m, destroying 60%
of the capital.
Focus was 13km (8.1 miles below Earth’s surface)
Epicentre near the town of Léogâne, 25km away from Port-au-Prince (capital)
Multi-hazard hotspot: hit by 4 storms in one month (2008)
Las major earthquake was in 1942
Primary impacts:
Large swaths of forest have been cut down for charcoal, leading to denuded mountains. The lack
of trees, that roots bind the soil together, increases the landslide hazards following rainfall.
200,000 deaths
188,000 homes damaged
19 million tonnes of rubble and debris produced
Cholera outbreak
Aid:
MSF provided 28,000 tents, 85,000 emergency kits, saving 20,000 lives
USA sent rescue teams of 10,000 troops
UK govt sent £20 million in aid
Dominican Republic first to send aid such as water, food, heavy lifting machinery also allowed
crossing the border to receive treatment from their hospitals.
The UN lost 100 personnel in the earthquake and NGOS could not put a plan together
The World Bank helped them clear half of their debt and giving 5 years to repay the other half
The World Bank helped community projects to rebuild homes in local communities, but only in
some areas.
, Secondary impacts:
Aid was slow to arrive, due to airport damage rescue teams around the world took 48 hours to
enter Haiti.
The port was unusable because of damage and so was the control tower and the only runway.
Aid piled up at the airport due to lack of transport, so food and water took days to arrive
3 million live in slums because of rapid urbanisation so homes and buildings weren’t built to
survive these events beforehand
Shortages of doctors meant that people died from having injuries like broken limbs.
1.5 million left homeless
HAITI- HURRICANE TOMAS OCT 2010
Tomas developed from a tropical wave east of the Windward Islands
Tomas quickly weakened to a tropical storm in the central Caribbean Sea, due to strong wind
shear and dry air. Tomas later intensified into a hurricane near the Windward passage.
44 fatalities
Flooding exacerbated the cholera outbreak and caused landslides has now killed more than 442
people here.
Flooding was ankle level
Overall damage from the storm was $463.4 million.
85 mph wind speed
Category 2
The storm moved to Cuba
Caused some fatalities in St Lucia
The Haitian government issued an orange storm alert, one level short of the highest state of
alert, and warned for the possibility of winds, thunderstorms, and flooding.
The UN reported that Tomas affected the agriculture sector the most severely. Fields were
flooded, crops destroyed, and livestock were also affected.
Shelters were swept away by strong winds and rains and falling rock have cut off several roads
and led to the deaths of many animals.
Tomas damaged the coffee crop and other crops such as bananas.
800 workers from save the children already located there for aid
EYJAFJALLAJUKUL VOLCANO- ICELAND
Background:
Consists of a stratovolcano that is covered by ice caps covering 100sq km.
Erupted between March and May 2010
Big E is within a chain of volcanoes in the SE rift zone
Located on the mid Atlantic ridge, where a constructive plate margin separating the N. American
and Eurasian plate, moving by ridge push along the mid-Atlantic ridge.
