The Haiti Earthquake was an earthquake like no other.The Haitian earthquake was by far the worst earthquake in history because it destroyed many schools, killed millions of people and costed a lot of money to rebuild the city. It destroyed everything in it path and because of the poor shape Port au Prince was in, it made it easier for the Earthquake to destroy the place. Port au Prince had poorly- built houses, and the concrete wasn't as heavily built as the concrete here in the United States. Before the quake, Haiti was already in a troublesome condition and it had be suffering for more than 10 years since people landed there. Less the 60 percent people who lived in Haiti barely accessed clean water. They don’t even have a national building code and more than half of Haitians society was living in hardship. In fact, the reason why people in Haiti suffered so much is because they didn’t have a lot of money. You could tell by just looking at the shape it was in before the quake. If things were this incompetent, then just think about the education level the kids were getting. Its education organization was already disordered. About only 25% of the schools in Haiti were free or were inexpensive and …show more content…
That’s not all either, more that three hundred thousand people were injured by the quake and because houses were destroyed and more than 1 million people were left homeless. In fact, some people were so frightened by the earthquake that they started moving away from the city and went to live in other places. It wasn’t just a few hundreds who moved, it was about 600,00 people who moved away. Some went to live with families and others went wherever they could call home. Some of the people who became homeless also went and found families or a place they could call home but not all were lucky. Some of them haven't even found homes which shows how devastating the quake
Earthquakes happen about 20,000 times a year worldwide. They can destroy almost anything.In 2011, Japan had 9.1 magnitude earthquake, close to the highest magnitude of 9.2 in Alaska. They suffered tremendous damage from such a strong earthquake. The year before Haiti suffered from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, still quite high compared to small tremors at magnitude 0-2. Japan recovered and rebuilt much faster than haiti did though. Haiti isn't even quite done recovering yet. The earthquakes had such different effects on the countries because of their economy, the condition of their people, and population rates.
The epicenter of this earthquake is in San Francisco, hence the name of it. The cities that were affected by it included Santa Rosa, San Jose, and Santa Cruz. It awakened the city of San Francisco with a population of 400, 000 people with a magnitude of 7.8 (Frantz, 2016). Today, the current population of the city is twice as much compared to the population in 1906. Reconstruction of San Francisco
The Haitian government’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes despite the fact that earthquakes are common to the region is indicative of the governments inability and lack of resources to properly plan and protect it’s population against natural disasters. This lack of preparedness is not an isolated incident. Prior to the disaster, the World Bank and others were working with the Haitian government to incorporate disaster risk management into Haiti’s development strategy and to develop its capacity for disaster response. This capacity building was in its early stages of development when the earthquake hit, on January 12, 2010, and was mainly focused on hurricanes, which are the most common cause of natural disaster on the island (Margesson, 2010, p. 4).
The media in the United Sates is accustomed to portraying Haiti as a failed state without referring to the external influences of other countries on Haiti’s problems including the 1915 to 1934 occupation of Haiti by the United States. Haiti has suffered at the hands of numerous dictators who have robbed the country of its resources, but little is said of the U.S support of some of the dictatorial regimes that have ruled over Haiti and plundered its resources (Maus, 2015). The natural disasters that have wrought havoc in Haiti in the form of hurricanes and floods are solely blamed on Haitians who have decided to destroy their land using destructive agricultural methods. Little is said of the destruction of Haiti’s natural landscape
The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue, assisted by substantial aid from the international community. Governing institutions remain weak and inefficient, and overall progress has not been substantial. The parliament has not renewed the mandate of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which had been tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts but was unpopular.”( .heritage.org). The open market of Haiti trade weighted to be 2.1 this is because the lack of tariffs hamper the trade freedom of Haiti. Foreign investors are given national treatment but the investment is small and the financial sector is remained underdeveloped and does not provide any adequate support.
Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with a majority of the population living under the poverty line, the earthquake inflicted $7.8 billion in damage and caused the country's GDP to contract severely. After the earthquake, Haiti received billions of dollars from other countries intended for reconstruction, which progressed slowly. Almost half of all Haitian citizens depend on the agricultural sector consisting of mostly small scale farming. These people remain defenseless against damage from the frequent natural disasters cause by the country's growing
The only way I feel that Haiti could have been saved is if they never took money from the IMF. The chain of circumstances in Haiti that the IMF has caused is very deep, and they planned to create their own garment industry in the 1970's. I do not see a scenario in which they could do that and not be responsible for the earthquake deaths of 2010.
Even before the terrible earthquake Haiti was one of the poorest countries with over 70 percent of population living under the poverty line. The United States is only at a 14.5 for our poverty rate putting Haiti very far ahead of us. Since the earthquake 500,000 still remain homeless because rebuilding will cost a lot of money they simply don’t have. The Haiti Earthquake of 2010 included many details common to earthquakes and caused damage and destruction to property and lives that affected the region, but the area has recovered somewhat in its aftermath.
The devastation of the earthquake was mighty and shook the land far and wide leaving most of its structures decimated. This disaster did everything but help Haiti, with its already crippled economy this caused its inhabitants employment rate to plummet draining whatever it had left. An article published by the Daily Beast wrote “ six months after the earthquake, collapsed buildings still odone the landscapes; millions of Haitians continue to live in makeshift tent cities” (Daily). This quote really paints the idea that Haiti is in utter despair with most of its populace homeless and jobless. The fact that even a half a year past the initial strike Haiti can't get on its feet shows the crippling nature of its past and how it affect the present. Not only have most of Haiti's population are homeless but many have fled in panic and hysteria. In the documentary The Quake it was said “Since the earthquake upwards of 60,000 Haitians have fled Port au Prince searching for food work and shelter” (Quake). The distress of the Haitian people caused by the earthquake furthur shows how easily Haiti's will can be broke, and it is no secret that the country's past is the cause of
For years, Haiti has been known as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The country has been effected by many health, environmental, political, and natural disasters all leading to its biggest issue today, poverty. Poverty has sent Haiti into a huge stand still. Children aren’t getting educated, families can’t find shelter, and it is uncertain where the families will get their next meal. Since the beginning of the 19th century, poverty has been Haiti’s biggest conflict caused primarily by natural disasters, lack of education, and the spread of disease.
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti caused major damage and lead to various amounts of migrations within the island. With majority of the population already in poverty, the earthquake caused the rate of poverty to increase even more. Shabby housing and the absence of social assistance makes diseases another causes of poverty in Haiti. This often forces families to sell their belongings to buy medical treatments. Since the earthquake, stories about how corruption, poor infrastructure, shoddy construction, and general poverty in Haiti have largely aggravated the death toll of this disaster.
When news broke out that Haiti suffered a major earthquake, I did realize how badly the country was demolished. As well as, how the idea that Haiti was going to need all kinds of help if they wanted to fix all of their damages. Furthermore, I was aware of the vast amount of financial aid the Haiti was
1896, Sanriku, Japan: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rattled Japan, killing more than 26,360 people. In Tangshan, China, 1976, a magnitude 8.0 tsunami killed more than 255,000 people. 2004: The Indian Ocean experienced a 9.0 tsunami, its destruction killing more than 350,000 people. Just last year, Haiti lost 222,570 inhabitants because of a 7.0 earthquake (Brunner and Rowen 1), leaving the country in more trouble than they can dig themselves out of. Earthquakes can be predictable, and unpredictable. They can be harmless, or your worst nightmare. The consequences of natural disasters are unimaginable and it is impossible to fully comprehend the thoughts running through the heads of those left homeless or family less. On March 11, 2011, Japan’s coast was hit by a tsunami, its results affecting almost everywhere in the world.
For example, in 2010, with one of the worst quake recorded in its country’s history, Haiti experienced a catastrophic earthquake. With a magnitude of 7.0 with 52 aftershocks, measuring 4.5 or greater, about three million people were affected by the quake. With ruins and a death toll hitting over 200,000, the Haitian people faced an array of threats. In Simon Romero’s “Quake Accentuated Chasm that has Defined Haiti”, the revelation of the aftermath is detailed by observation. With the addition to government corruption, the occurrence of disease, unemployment, homelessness, and gang violence had risen in a few months since the quake.
Firstly, the most direct and immediate impact of a natural disaster on a society is the loss of human life. In certain types of natural disasters large number of casualties may not occur, nevertheless in the scenario of a far-reaching flood and earthquake, the death toll could be immense. It is estimated that the 1976 Tangshan earthquake caused more than 750 thousand deaths, making it rank the first among all earthquakes in the 20th century (BBC, Year unknown, internet). This figure indicates a correlation between population density and higher casualties. Furthermore, On April 20 2011, Edmond Mulet, the head of the UN mission in Haiti said, "marked the 100th day since the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 people dead," (2010, quoted in The Telegraph, internet). Since Haiti is an underdeveloped country, the mitigation system is incomplete, as well as the assistance measurement, hence the numeber of dead was significant. In addition, it is reported that nearly a month after a disastrous earthquake generated the tsunami along Japan's northeastern coast, approximately 15,000 individuals were still missing, and the majority of them are poss...