Earthquakes have afflicted the world since its inception. The sudden release of energy from volcanoes or displacing of earth plates can result in disasters of extreme magnitude. These usually naturally occurring phenomenon have been responsible from wiping out entire towns throughout history and until today continue to produce major loss of life and infrastructure. It can take years for a city or country to recover from a major event of this kind and when a third world country is involved, the result is usually exponentially worse than in a developed country. In the past decades Japan, Chile and Haiti have suffered the devastation an earthquake produces. This document will concentrate in Haiti, a small country in the Caribbean. On
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).
On January twelfth 2010, a deadly earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit the coast of Port au prince, Haiti for 35 seconds, killing around 200,000 and leaving approximately to 1.5 million of the population homeless including kids who became orphans and vice versa in a matter of less than a minute. Before the earthquake, the way of life was not as bad as portrayed back at home, most of the news broadcasted in the mainstream media were exaggerated news, negative light and unfair tales to make Haiti look inferior.
Haiti Now was founded in 2010 by Alex Lizzappi. A successful Miami businessman today, Alex’s childhood was a very different story. His desire to help the Restavek children of Haiti is a reflection of his own life experiences and his understanding of how a child without a social network and social net worth can be left behind, regardless of their intelligence or potential.
Pitts has a very important argument that the people of Haiti learn how to recover quickly from their tragedies. Perhaps it is because they have experienced other weather problems in their past. Since they have been through this before, they know better ways of building themselves back up to their previous standpoint. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands have lost their live to the multitude to storms, floods, and earthquakes. However, we watch this happen from afar and never experience these ourselves. Pitts mentions that we pray, but that’s it. We cannot possibly fathom what it is like to go through such a devastating event, let alone how to recover from it.
The story of Haiti’s healthcare system is unfortunately tied all too closely to disaster, both man-made and nature-born. This paper will briefly discuss the pre-2010 earthquake healthcare environment in Haiti as the uncertainty that exists provides little opportunity to provide a reasoned understanding of its current national healthcare status.
Haiti is one of the more indigent countries in the world; the country also holds a low economic status. Over time Haiti’s economy grew gradually at around 2.3
Brief history… Haiti takes up about 1/3 of the land of the island Hispaniola, neighboring the Dominican Republic. The whole Island was once under the control of Spain in 1942 after Columbus made an appearance. In the 17th century, France colonized on part of the Island and renamed it Saint-Dominigue. It wasn’t until 1803…300 years, tens of thousands of African slaves, and one hierarchal social system later, did this chunk of land become the independent republic, Haiti. (1).
On January 2010 a devastating thing happened that lasted approximately 90 seconds but forever changed Haiti. January 12 a devastating earthquake struck their country leaving behind a wrath of destruction. The earthquake measured out at 7.0 on the rector scale. Sadly, up 200,000 people were lost to the deadly earthquake. Over 1.5 million people were left homeless and after 5 years over 80,000 Haitians are still living in makeshift shelters and tents in Port-au
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
In 2010, an earthquake occurred that scared ten million lives of men, women, and children. However, the earthquake
The Republic of Haiti is located in the western hemisphere located between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. This mountainous landscape occupies a western portion of the island of Hispaniola that it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is marked with fertile valleys, mountain ranges, plateaus, and dozens of small streams and rivers. Its tropical climate tendencies are hot and humid, consisting of heavy rainfall and reoccurring natural disasters. Its location near the center of the hurricane belt contributes to these storms in addition to flooding, earthquakes, and occasional droughts. Mostly residing in urban areas, the Haitian population mainly consists of Africans while the majority of others are of mulatto decent. The
To improve after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, recovery takes a lot out of the government, the people, and the allied countries. When an unexpected major earthquake hit Haiti, a country in the Caribbean, in 2010, at least 200,000 to 316,000 deaths occurred. The many deaths, displaced people, and destroyed buildings left Haiti in ruins. The government and the people were filled with dreadful sorrows as these truths about a ruined Haiti came to light. Immediately after this disaster, allied countries such as the United States and Canada stepped in to pay for search parties and repairing Haiti, physically and emotionally. Even with the support of allied countries and the government, the development of Haiti is still in need of assistance. Six years later, after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, the handouts and help from allied countries have not been enough to create a fully developed economy and efficient government.
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.
Author in the paper "Preparedness explains some differences between Haiti and Nepal’s response to earthquake" has explained the basic differences in response to the earthquake between these two countries from this own observation.(1) While his observation speaks that Nepal was more prepared to withstand Earthquake of this strength in terms of better medical and civil infrastructure and better awareness about personal protective behavior, he failed to point out the role of civil society, non-governmental organization and community health workers in immediate relief and response.