Earthquake Haiti 2010. What Kind Plate Action

¶ … earthquake Haiti 2010. What kind plate action caused, kind seismic wave, property damage, Haiti hit hard Dominican republic small island?.

The 2010 Haiti Earthquake is certainly one of the most dramatic events happening during recent years. The whole world was took by surprise as the phenomenon occurred and people across the globe were filled with horror as it was watching Haitians struggling to provide an effective response to the disaster. The earthquake occurred on the twelfth of January 2012, at 16:53 local time and its epicenter was approximately 15 miles from the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. A series of aftershocks followed and instilled even more terror in people across the island. While the death toll is somewhere around 316.000 people, the earthquake affected more than three million people and the world in general when considering that international players acknowledged the phenomenon's terrible consequences.

Although it is virtually impossible for someone to actually understand what Haitians went through as the earthquake and its aftershocks occurred, it is only safe to say that these people stared directly into death's eyes as they realized that there was nowhere to run and that only a miracle could have prevented their deaths. "Witnesses are describing the damage as severe and catastrophic" (Taft-Morales).

In order to gain a better understanding regarding Haiti, the 2010 earthquake, and conditions prior, during, and after the phenomenon, one needs to focus on Haitian history. "For 35 seconds the earth shook and reduced a nation -- already struggling with the historical weight of slavery, underdevelopment, imperialism, and intense internal divisions -- to rubble" (Schuller & Morales 1).

The earthquake was located on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault, as the fault ruptured and released energy that had probably been experiencing deformation and gathering stress for approximately 150 years. While other faults in Haiti's vicinity have had earthquake activity during recent years, the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault had not experienced any modification for more than a century, thus causing a particularly violent event when it finally moved. Conditions were aggravated by the fact that the hypocenter was relatively shallow (approximately eight miles below the surface).

In order to gain a more complex comprehension regarding this event's significance, one needs to understand that it took place very close to Port-au-Prince, thus meaning that its location was essential for the approximately three million people present in the capital at the time. If it were to occur in a rural area it would have caused much lesser damage, especially considering that people in rural areas are accustomed to living in small houses and that they are able to immediately flee them when they experience an earthquake. Moreover, the fact that most buildings in Port-au-Prince were not designed to survive a major earthquake contributed to the problem and was practically yet another ingredient in this recipe for disaster. This is actually one of the reasons for which the Dominican Republic experienced little to no damage as a result of the episode: the capital, Santo Domingo, was far from the earthquake's epicenter, and most Dominican communities that were nearer to it contained very little people.

The event's aftershocks caused even more damage as Haitians went through a series of other smaller earthquakes. There were 59 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or more on the Richter scale, with two of the most important occurring seven minutes after the mainshock (6.0 Richter) and on January 20 (5.9 Richter). In addition to its primary damage and damage caused by aftershocks, the earthquake also triggered a series of tsunamis that provoked significant damage on the Haitian coastline.

By looking back at Haiti's history it becomes obvious that Haiti contained all of the factors that could be brought together in forging a disaster. Deforestation was very severe in the area as colonists and later Haitians were actively engaged in exploiting forests across the country. "Today, while the Dominican Republic still has about 28% of its original tree cover, Haiti only has about 1%" (Lies 41). This is a country where people are poor, are gathered in large numbers across its surface (Haiti is one of the most densely-populated countries today), and which has poor health services. This is why conditions were critical, both before and after the earthquake, and this is why it was very difficult for the international public to provide a rapid and effective response. While many international players became part of the rescue process, local corruption and poverty impeded a rapid solution to the problem and actually prevented many lives from being saved.