Transcript the haitian earthquake disaster of january 10, 2010 should be past

THE HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE
DISASTER OF JANUARY 10, 2010
SHOULD BE PAST HISTORY
BUT IT DEFINITELY ISN’T
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
February 21, 2012
BACKGROUND
The Disaster Began at
4:53 PM January 12,
2010
M7.0 EARTHQUAKE
STRIKES HAITI
“THE WORST URBAN DISASTER IN A
GENERATION” DEVASTATED THE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE’S POOREST
NATION
It was the largest quake ever
recorded in the area and the
first major one since a M6.7
temblor in 1984
SHALLOW HYPOCENTER
• The US Geological Survey reported
that the earthquake was centered
about 10 miles (16 km) west of Portau-Prince, with 1.8 million people in
the area at high risk.
• Lack of building codes and the
quake’s shallow depth - about 5
miles (8 km), exacerbated damage.
IT OCCURRED ON THE
ENRIQUILLO - PLAINTAIN 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 HAITI EARTHQUAKE AND
THE CARIBBEAN PLATE
BUILDING DAMAGE
• Thousands of buildings (e.g.,
houses, businesses, schools,
prisons, hospitals) were damaged
or destroyed.
• After years of political instability in
Haiti, no modern construction
standards had been implemented..
THOUSANDS OF BUILDING
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED
CATASTROPHIC DEATH
TOLL REACHED
• Over two hundred
thousand casualties
occurred.
COLLAPSE OF UN BUILDING;
PORT AU PRINCE
THE NATIONAL PALACE WAS
DAMAGED
1,5 MILLION WERE LIVING IN
TENT CITIES IN JULY, 2010
THE DISASTER
LINGERS ON:
No Home Except a Tent or a
Damaged Building
[source: The Washington Post
February 20, 2012
515,000 HAITIANS STILL LIVE IN
707 CAMPS: FEB. 20, 2012
THE NATIONAL PALACE
(PHOTO BEFORE THE QUAKE)
20,000 POOR HAITIANS “SQUAT” IN
FRONT OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
ACTIONS ARE HAPPENING
AT A SNAIL’S PACE
• International Aid workers are
trying to find ways to get the
20,000 people squatting in front of
the National Palace to pack up and
go, BUT where will they go.
PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN 84,000+
DAMAGED HOUSES:PORT AU PRINCE
ACTIONS ARE HAPPENING
AT A SNAIL’S PACE
• Inspectors have marked the
84,0000+ damaged buildings for
demolition, BUT only 6,000 have
been demolished, because the
people living in them have no place
to go.
THE PRICE TAG
• The Haitian Government is spending
$30 million to empty SIX camps--- there
are 701 more..
• The Champs de Mars Project funded by
Canada is spending $20 million to
move 20,000 people from in front of the
National Palace; leaving about 500,000
more to move,
THE GRIM REALITY
No country, no group of donors, no
NGO, NOONE is ready to donate $500
million to solve the humanitarian
disaster in Haiti