M7.

0 EARTHQUAKE
STRIKES HAITI
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE’S
POOREST NATION WITH 8 IN 10 AT
POVERTY LEVEL
4:53 p.m.; JANUARY 12, 2010

From the Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction

With contributions from NEMO Secretariat Saint Lucia
 NATURAL HAZARDS FACED BY MANY
ISLAND NATIONS

FLOODS

GOAL: BE READY FOR THE HURRICANES

INEVITABLE
TYPHOONS

EARTHQUAKES &TSUNAMIS
DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS
FOR ACTIONS HAVING
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR
ENTIRE REGION
WILDFIRES
LOCATION
It was the largest quake ever
recorded in the area and the
first major one since a M6.7
temblor in 1984
IT OCCURRED IN THE NORTH
AMERICAN-CARIBBEAN PLATE
SUBDUCTION ZONE
A CAPITOL OF 1.8 MILLION IN
A NATION OF NINE MILLION
 SHALLOW HYPOCENTER
• The US Geological Survey reported
that the earthquake was centered
about 10 miles (16 km) west of Port-
au-Prince, with 1.8 million people in
the area at high risk.
• The quake’s shallow depth - about
5 miles (8 km), exacerbated damage.
 IT OCCURRED ON THE
ENRIQUILLO - PLANTAIN GARDEN
FAULT, A STRIKE SLIP FAULT
ZONE THAT BEARS THE STRESS
CAUSED BY THE CONVERGENCE
OF THE CARIBBEAN AND NORTH
AMERICAN TECTONIC PLATES IN
THIS LOCATION.
 THE ENRIQUILLO –
PLANTAIN GARDEN FAULT
FAULT MAP: HAITI AND
DOMINION REPUBLIC
GROUND SHAKING HAZARD
MAP
 TSUNAMI WARNING

A tsunami
warming
was issued
and later
withdrawn.
 THE PRESIDENT OF HAITI
SURVIVED

• The President survived and

took control of the emergency
response.
 SOCIETAL IMPACTS
• The lives of 3 million Haitians were
adversely impacted.
• The Dominion Republic, Haiti’s
neighbor, which experienced a
M8.0 earthquake and tsunami in
1946 on a thrust fault, escaped
with minimal impact, but remains
at high risk in future quakes.
PEOPLE SLEEPING ON THE
STREET: JANUARY 12
EVACUATION OF INJURED
SURVIVORS SLEEPING IN
TENTS: JANUARY 15
 CATASTROPHIC DEATH
TOLL FEARED

• The fear is that tens of

thousands of casualties will be
found during search and
rescue operations and as the
rubble of thousands of
collapsed buildings is cleared.
DEATH TOLL MAY REACH
TENS OF THOUSANDS
 BUILDING DAMAGE
• Thousands of buildings (e.g.,
houses, schools, prisons,
hospitals) were damaged or
destroyed.
• After years of political instability in
Haiti, no modern construction
standards have been
implemented..
 INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE
• Power was knocked out.
• Communication was disrupted.
• Utility service was interrupted.
• Roads were damaged.
• The airport’s control tower was
badly damaged.
• The port was damaged.
DAMAGED ROADS
TOUSSANT L’OUVERATURE
AIRPORT: PORT AU PRINCE
• The airport’s communication tower
was damaged in the earthquake.
• An operational runway was
receiving military transports with
supplies the next day.
• The airport’s “normal” day of 25
flights quickly became more than
50 flights.
TOUSSANT L’OUVERATURE
AIRPORT
 PORT DAMAGE
• Piers were broken.
• Cranes were overturned.
• Containers were toppled.
• Debris was everywhere.
PORT: TOPPLED CONTAINERS
BEFORE AND AFTER: PORT
AU PRINCE
 DAMAGE TO HOUSES ON
HILLSIDE: PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE TO
HOMES: PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE TO
HOMES: PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE TO
HOMES: PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
CLASSIC “X” CRACKS: PORT
AU PRINCE
 SOCIETAL IMPACTS:
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
• Numerous public buildings were
destroyed, including: a hospital,
the Presidential Palace, the
parliament building, the Finance
Ministry, The Public Works
Ministry, the Palace of Justice and
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Port-au-
Prince, the national cathedral
 CLASSIC “PANCAKE”
EFFECT: PRESIDENTIAL
RESIDENCE
BEFORE THE QUAKE: THE
NATIONAL CATHEDRAL
AFTER THE QUAKE: CATHEDRAL
BADLY DAMAGED
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE TO
HOMES: PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
EXAMPLE OF DAMAGE:
PORT AU PRINCE
 OFFICES OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
• The building housing United
Nations personnel
collapsed, killing the Head
of the UN’s Peace Keeping
Force, and possibly others.
• 100 UN workers are missing.
• The UN’s humanitarian
assistance was slowed, but
not stopped.
THE CARICOM SECRETARIAT
• The CARICOM Secretariat,
survived with very little damage
and became HQ for CARICOMs
interventions.
 THE US EMBASSY
• The US Embassy, which was
constructed in accordance with a
modern building code, survived
with very little damage, while other
buildings in the vicinity collapsed.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
• Numerous nations (e.g., Cuba,
China, Venezuela, Mexico,
Taiwan, Spain, Italy, UK,
France, Brazil US etc.) began
to provide assistance in a
variety of ways immediately.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
International NGO’s
responded immediately
(e.g., Catholic Relief
Services, World Vision,
International Red Cross,
Doctors Without Borders,
The Salvation Army, etc.,).
 PRIORITY ONE IS SAVING
HAITIAN LIVES
• Search and rescue, which started
with the efforts of individual
survivors, was augmented with
international experts and heavy
equipment.
• A major concern is how to care for
the homeless and injured Haitians
and how and where to provide
temporary housing for them.
 SEARCH AND RESCUE IN A
SCHOOL BY INDIVIDUALS: JAN 13
SEARCH AND RESCUE
UNDERWAY: JAN 13
SEARCH AND RESCUE
UNDERWAY: JAN 13
TIAWAN SEARCH AND RESCUE
TEAM: TO ASSIST
BRITISH SEARCH AND RESCUE
TEAM: TO ASSIST
ISRAELI TEAM: TO ASSIST
 SPANISH SEARCH AND
RESCUE TEAM: TO ASSIST
US TEAMS [VIRGINIA and LA]
TO ASSIST
TRAFFIC JAMS HINDER SEARCH
AND RESCUE; JAN 14
SURVIVORS RECEIVING WATER:
JAN 14
SURVIVORS FILLING WATER
BOTTLES: JAN 15
 INFECTUOUS DISEASES
FEARED

• With the possibility of tens of

thousands of deaths and the
shortage and contamination of
water, another fear is the onset
of diseases such as malaria.
HAITI HAS EXPERIENCED
MANY PAST DISASTERS
 HAITI’S POVERTY EXACERBATED
BY PAST DISASTERS
• Mudslides caused by Hurricane
Gordon killed more than 1,000
people in 1994
• Hurricane Georges killed more
than 400 and destroyed most of
the crops in 1998.
 HAITI’S POVERTY EXACERBATED
BY PAST DISASTERS
• In 2004, heavy rains from
Hurricane Jeanne caused
landslides and flooding that
killed more than 3,000 people,
mostly in the city of Gonaives.
 HAITI’S POVERTY EXACERBATED
BY PAST DISASTERS
• Haiti was hit in 2008, by four
severe windstorms: tropical
storm Fay and hurricanes
Hanna, Gustav, and Ike.
• Damage was estimated at $ 1
billion.
 Lesson

THE KEY IS:

1) KNOW THE DISASTER

HISTORY OF YOUR
REGION

2) KNOW YOUR
COMMUNITY