2010 Haiti Earthquake Essay

A natural disaster has the capability to cause large scale damage and destruction to an area. Seismic events have been known to alter landscapes and affect the livelihoods, health and development of communities. No two earthquake events are the same and the level of threat posed by an earthquake can vary due to both the human and physical factors of an area. The 2010 magnitude - 7.0 earthquake that occurred in Haiti is an example of where a natural disaster caused a previously vulnerable area to suffer tremendous loss and debilitating socio-economic impacts, to an already poverty-stricken nation.

Haiti is a prime example of how human needs in one area of the world are interdependent with social conditions elsewhere in the world. Haiti, for most of its history has been overwhelmed with economic

Haiti had lots of challenges in running in their own government and remained unstable until today. Haiti was no longer protected by the French and were taken advantage of by other powerful countries. They were essentially trading one exploitive world power for another such as Germany who began to trade at unfair rates with the Haitian Republic. “But if the cost of maintaining power and continuing to enjoy the spoils of the state was the spoil of the nation, they were quite willing to sacrifice the nation.” (Trouillot, 1990). Merchants were fine with the financial, military and political instability of the Saint Domingue state, and had an interest in the succession politically because it meant that their jobs of exploiting the state would be more or less

Illness and disease along with poverty still plague Haiti today. The effort to try and recover from the most recent earthquake tragedy has Haitians concerned. The conditions that they have endured in the past just to survive are worse than the conditions brought on by the earthquake. Some Haitian natives feel the Government is moving a bit slow in cleaning up and getting

Haiti has experienced some pretty hard times. The day was December 4th 1492. The locals were going about their day when a ship came across the shore, and inside was Christopher Columbus. He made the soldiers go to the island and turn some of the locals into slaves. Eventually a European colony came to Haiti with some slaves. [Some of the people in haiti now are descendents from the slaves and the colonists.] There were more and more slaves coming.

On January 12th, 2010, the small country of Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). The 30-second disaster was just the beginning of a collection of aftershocks that then struck the country relentlessly for days (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). Many areas were reduced to rubble leaving approximately one million Haitians homeless and 350 000 dead and another 300 000 injured (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). The ill-prepared country was sitting on two tectonic plates- the Caribbean and the North American, where there was slippage resulting in the earthquake (KS3 Bitesize Geography). Following the environmental catastrophe, the international community responded, and a relief effort began (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015).

The January 12, 2010 Haiti Earthquake caused an enormous destruction in the Caribbean nation. Hospitals and government buildings collapsed along with an unbelievable amount of homes. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and many more were wounded. The disaster added more misery to people already struggling to get by with everyday life. Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world. The January 12 quake demolished almost every major building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. About 5,000 schools in the city were destroyed or damaged. Throughout Haiti, more than 220,000 people were killed, and more than 1 million were left homeless. A few days after the quake, the number of survivors stood at 121 as hopes of finding more became

Purpose: To understand how Haiti became what it is and all the trials it has endured

Haiti, the small country located west of the Dominican Republic, is a unique and beautiful country with its own unique culture and geography. The people of Haiti are proud of their country and their culture. Even though the nation is plagued by earthquakes and storms, due to its geographic location, it does not stop the Haitian people from continuing their unique culture and happy lifestyle. Taking a look at this country’s culture and geography, anyone, civilian, military or political personnel can fully grasp and understand the country’s uniqueness.

In order to understand Haiti we must first put ourselves in their shoes. At one stage or another, every man, woman, or child will be faced with at least one issue that is now happening in Haiti. The issues involving Haiti has been a popular topic for the past two years. Since January twelfth two-thousand and ten. There are many factors which influenced the development of Haiti. Many people have abandoned Haiti over the past years. They have also given up hope for Haiti. Haiti is heralded by economic issues both political and social, foreign issues, military issues (minustah), presidential issues, and the recent earthquake. I plan to explain each of these factors in detail and give

Haiti was once the first black independent republic in the world and the richest island in the Caribbean. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world. What could have happened to Haiti in almost two hundred years of history? The country experienced repeated civil war and foreign intervention. Haiti is not isolated from the international world. Thus, it was not out of concern for ordinary Haitians that the United States intervened in Haiti. It was out of concern for profit and stability within the United States' own backyard. The purpose of this paper is to show the negative aspect that the United States had played in the government of Haiti.

A social factor that influenced the severity of the earthquake was where people chose to live. Haiti is located on fault lines, where the epicentre of the earthquake is and where the earthquake is most severe. The earthquake’s epicentre was estimated to be around a mere 25 km away from the Port-au-prince, the capital of Haiti and home to ¼ of the population. The closer the area was to the epicentre, the more intense the earthquake was and the greater the destruction. The area was also urbanised with many buildings, due to the great number of people who resided there which meant that many buildings were destroyed and many people were killed.

Haiti is the second largest Caribbean Island. It occupies a third of the western part of the island it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is also made up of several islands that surround the main territory. The capital is Port-au-Prince. It rains between November and March in the North of the island and between May and October in the South. “Once covered by forest, the country has been heavily logged for wood and fuel and to clear land for farming, and is now largely deforested.” Haiti is divided into “nine administrative departments.” Besides the capital, other important cities are Cap-Haitien and Gonaives.  “Haiti is the most densely populated country in Latin America and has the lowest per

On January 12, 2010 on of the world’s deadliest earthquakes struck Haiti. In his book, Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, Mark Schuller analyzes the presence of humanitarian aid agencies following the disaster. He discusses the impacts the aid had on the environment, development and globalization of Haiti.

Poverty, corruption, and poor access to education are the most serious disadvantages that Haiti faces. Two-thirds of the country depends on agriculture, consisting of mainly small-scale subsistence farming. This sector is high vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and the country’s widespread deforestation (which have caused periodic flooding). Additionally, Haiti suffers from high inflation, lack of investment,