Comparison Of Haiti And Japan Earthquake

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.

    One reason Haiti and Japan had such different effects after the earthquakes is because of the difference in their economy. Haiti's

economy is definitely not amazing, especially compared to Japan's. Their average income per person per year is 1,300 dollars, compared to Japan's 35,500 dollars. Haiti's unemployment rate is 10 times more than Japan's. Haiti's population has 80% below poverty which is a ton of people! Haiti's budget is trillions under Japan’s and their importation value is loads lower. Haiti's debt is lower but that is because they spent less money in the first place. That is only parts of Japan superior economy. The worse the economy, the less money to rebuild after disasters. Also if you don't trade you might not be able to trade for resources in a disaster.

Another reason the effects on the earthquakes were so severely different is because of the condition of the people. The life expectancy is much lower than Japan's in Haiti. That must mean life is not as healthy in Haiti. That could be because There are many less physicians and hospitals in Haiti. Japan's literacy rate is 99%, but Haiti's is only 52.9%. Reading the news and signs could be very important in a disaster, so you know the disaster plan.

A last reason for the difference in the earthquake recovery was population rates. In japan there are few deaths and and average life expectancy is 84 years. There is a large amount of middle aged people. In Haiti, you are only expected to live up to 62 and there are lots of deaths. The population on Haiti is much lower than Japan's. The less people you have, the less to clean up after in a disaster. But then less people to sponsor and assist clean up.

Some people may think the reason for the difference is because of exposure. They may say that haiti has a ton of disasters, especially earthquakes, so they weren't recovered from the last earthquake yet. Burt they may be surprised to know that Japan has a very high exposure rates as well. Actually Japan had a higher magnitude earthquake, and still recovered faster!
Haiti has a very poor economy, bad condition of people, and bad population rates. That is the reason for the severe difference of the 2011 japan earthquake, and Haiti's 2010 earthquake. All of those things contribute to earthquake readiness and earthquake reaction. Its no wonder Haiti has not finished rebuilding!